Our discussion over coffee was not long; suffice to say she understood that now Celestia and Luna were at least sworn to secrecy, and Blueblood was… well. Going to do whatever he felt was for the good of Equestria, unless Celestia shut him in a dungeon. And I doubted even that would prevent him from meddling for long; the stallion was steadfast in his defense of Equestria and its ideals, even while he skirted said ideals himself.
I wondered what was to be said for a pony who intentionally idealized morals they could never bring themselves to live up to, and fell upon the very saying I had made my own; Ponies are weird. It was somehow the answer to everything, I thought ruefully.
Topaz’s coffee was just a touch sweeter than I was usually allowed, our brief touch as I left her to her business to go about my own lingered just beyond the bounds of propriety, and I waited at the closed door just a hint past making it feel awkward; I did not want the previous night or this fine morning to end, and yet end it inevitably would, regardless of what I did. And though we had not discussed precisely when I should assume duty, I should like to start today, before I developed further bad habits. My lazing about in a cell had been intolerable, and I was truly shamed that all the excess sleep and boredom had thrown off my rhythm. Were I still in Canterlot, I would have been expected an hour ago; only the fact that I was not expected yet salved my pride. Why, the sun had already crested the horizon, and… and…
And the Empire was beautiful.
I could not find the words as I walked dumbly through the very same streets I had so easily castigated only a day prior; the air was still chill, no amount of magic could truly eradicate the frost from the air, but the sun… oh, the sun gleamed as the rays raced through buildings still being cleaned and polished from Sombra’s rule. In the courtyard before the castle, prismatic rays from all throughout the city converged in wild shapes, forming strange and wonderful patterns of color everywhere that moved and shifted, resembling nothing so much as a vast kaleidoscope. To my immense fascination, a group of foals had taken to playing an odd game with these shifting lights, calling out the next ‘target’ and then each rushing to a matching color. I could not begin to guess what the rules were, but clearly the foals knew them by heart, for they seemed quite agreed upon. Cersus would likely both love it and be terrible at it.
Even so, my heart ached as I could see where the vast work of restoring the city to this state had been started, where it was nearing completion, and where it had yet to begin at all. The palace all but glowed, and even as I watched, a pony with a chisel cleansed some dark blemish away from the finery; still in the process of repairing the previous King’s damage no doubt. Prince Shining had mentioned that Sombra had taken to coating everything with dark crystals, but he’d also mentioned that the Crystal Heart had shattered his hold upon the Empire, so I could only assume the Heart had its own limitations. As the pony pushed the cart full of shards over, I could not help but be curious; it promised to be a unique material, and the dour-faced pony made no complaint when I asked for a sample. My take on the strange mineral was that it was indeed unique; uniquely unpleasant. I could not tell if it was the uneven grit, the way the powdered material clung to my hoof like paste, or the way it felt as if it was digging into my chitin even through my faux-pony shell. It took an act of magic, shameful waste, to remove it thoroughly, and by then my mood had soured considerably from either irritation, disappointment, or a combination of both. I allowed him to go on his way and continued to the entrance, making my way past two guards at attention, and my mood again lightened as I went into the wondrous palace unimpeded.
Then I paused and looked down at myself. That… was not right, and it took me a few moments to really determine what was wrong, and had been wrong even upon my first visit, when I had happened upon the Crystal Heart. When it finally clicked into place, I cautiously walked back to poke my head through the entrance and take a good look at both guards, whose furtive glances between each other and everywhere but at myself rapidly raised both confusion and concern.
“...Should you not have stopped me? Questioned what I was about?”
The pair stank of fear. “Uh… No sir!” “Yes, sir, our apologies, sir!” The mismatched salutes both earth ponies gave as they now stared hollowly ahead hurt my spirit as a guard, and my suspicions grew.
“Then you know who I am?”
“Yes sir!” said one, even as the younger responded with a flustered “N… I mean, yes, sir!”
“...Who, then? One at a time.”
“Y…you’re a guest of King Shining?” offered the younger of the two, who looked like he could be no older than a raw recruit. Then again, he was likely a thousand years my senior. Perhaps I was the one overstepping my position, but this truly was unacceptable.
“Prince Shining, sir. The prince’s guest,” the other corrected, before wetting his lips. “...Or… maybe Princess Cadenza’s?”
“She prefers that I call her ‘Cady’,” I snorted, shaking my head. “You are guessing. If you are not sure, should you not find out? Investigate, perhaps? And not simply allow an unknown stranger to walk into the palace unimpeded?”
“Yes, sir. I should have found out,” the second, older sentry confessed, lowering his head, though I could sense a sort of resigned dread from him now. “The punishment should be mine.”
Now it was my turn to blink. “Punishment?”
“For… our failures?” the second asked, less resigned and more cautious.
I was starting to feel the beginning of a headache. “...I presume the two of you are amongst those who once served under Sombra, then?”
“...yes, sir. And Princess Amore before him,” the older confirmed. “I was, at least. Sombra pressed others into service. A couple of us are… well… trying to get back to normal? Everything went so wrong so fast and now-”
I could understand that, I supposed, but I regretfully did not have time for a life story. “I further assume that his expectations of you were purely based on his whims at the moment, and not any standard?”
“I… yes. Sir. It’s… it’s hard to explain.”
“...Hmm. As you were. I am expected. I am a fellow guard, from Canterlot. I intend to provide aid.” With that, I took my leave, having a greater understanding of the nightmare Sombra had wrought upon these people. And, for that matter, why Shining and Cady were having as many difficulties as they were…
These ponies were not ready to be free.
I found the freshly minted royalty of the Crystal Empire in discussion with some of the rest of the remaining guard, having a surprisingly animated discussion over just this lack of training, standards, and even, apparently, equipment. The presence of Cadance and Shining amongst the rest of the ponies actually startled me with a revelation: the vast majority of the denizens of the Empire were earth ponies. The sheer lack of both unicorns and pegasi alike was so stark that I had not even truly considered how unusual it was; even Ponyville, a renowned ‘earth pony’ village, had greater numbers of the other races than this empire. It was… strange, and vaguely disconcerting, given that Sombra himself had been a unicorn. Apart from myself and Shining, there wasn’t another to be seen, and I could count the number of pegasi in the entire morning on my hooves, and I was not sure if I should count Topaz as a citizen of the Empire quite yet. So, in terms of ‘keeping a low profile’, ‘Idol Hooves’ stood out to a painful degree. I should have noticed it earlier and made a request to Shining to alter my form, but the damage was already done, and he would have likely denied it regardless. Probably for the best, in truth; I had not worn a new pony since… well… since the ‘Lord DeFace’ incident, and prior to that I had worn nothing but my default unicorn form in many years for anything save convenience. I would likely be rusty to the point of suspicion. A… concerning issue, and one I would have to work to remedy.
The Prince looked surprised to see me, and I imagined he had expected me to take a few days to ‘acclimate’ which he truthfully should have known I would never avail myself of. A hint of humor crossed his features before he gave his head a small shake, then he scowled back down at the black-maned helmet, resuming his discussion even as his other half smiled and gave me a cheerful wave. “I can’t believe we have more of these than the old Crystal Empire armor. Sombra could have outfitted half the Empire, I don’t even see the point. Reforging this mess into proper armor is going to take years, unless we start shipping them to Equestria. And frankly, well…” He held up the helmet distastefully, as if expecting it to bite him. “I’m ashamed to even suggest letting something like it leave the Empire, but it might be the only thing we can do.”
I had to admit, it was a monstrous thing. The helm had a closed mask for the muzzle, entirely too many spikes, a razor-like insignia where the horn should be, and perhaps most ominously, faintly glowing visored eyes that struck me as more akin to blinders than protection; I could not imagine them being functional. To my disgust, the rest of the armor looked even worse, with more of the spiny bone-like protrusions covering shin, saddle, and shoulder alike; it would be impossible to carry equipment, and the entire ensemble would serve little use save direct combat. Likely the point, I had to admit; with the lack of unicorns and pegasi in the Empire, close combat would be Sombra’s greatest military strength. Perhaps he was wiser than I had given him credit. The armor was… functional, if ugly. With proper supply lines and numbers, an army thusly equipped would overmatch most Equestrian ones, and in general the ponies were loathe to fight ‘unfairly’.
The only pegasus amongst the advisors sighed, shaking a shaggy head dourly. “Well, what little we have, your highness, are King Sombra’s trophies or what little armor the former guards managed to hide away, but… he destroyed any remnants of the old Empire that he found, and after the one uprising, the supply was desperately limited. With respect, we have more armor from cowards than heroes. After all, Sombra enjoyed harvesting the latter.” Again, more credit owed. An effective strategy to maintain command. The King had held tight the reins of power, as any good ruler should.
Princess Cadance would have none of that. “I don’t think we should be neighsaying the ponies who hid anything from Sombra, given that the very act endangered them. They did more than just survive, and I think we should be more thankful for their foresight.” The pink princess was instead experimenting with the helm of a set of armor that I took to be traditional crystal empire armor; some sort of crystalline silver, more elaborate and of finer design than that of the Royal Guard in Equestria. I knew she would dearly like to try it on, but it was apparent that it was lacking in appropriate horn accommodation. Whilst I preferred the simpler design I had grown used to, I could not deny that it was rather striking. On the other hoof, every mark and etching would attract dirt and require more attention to maintain a proper shine, and I was distrustful that my fellow guards would maintain the appropriate dedication. I made my way over to the Sombran armor, contemplating that of the two, one was clearly made with purpose in mind and the other, mere appearance. A single unicorn had brought the entire Empire low, after all.
“Of course, your highness,” the pegasus agreed, almost obsequiously, and I felt a surprising amount of distaste from both rulers. “It just seems like they should have done more. Solved our own problems, instead of hiding from them, like the two of you did. May I ask who this is?”
“It is about time someone did,” I agreed, picking up the helmet and examining it more carefully. “You are the first who did not know me already to call attention to my presence. It is concerning, but manageable.” This one, oddly, did have a hole for a horn.
Shining snorted. “This is Corporal Idol Hooves. Sergeant, forgive me. My second in command, and long-time friend,” he gave a small shrug.
The pegasus balked. “A… corporal, is your second in command? Sir, I must ask that you take us seriously-”
“Amethyst, I’m as serious as a pony can get, but I see why you’re worried. To be fair, he’s probably one of the most dangerous ponies in Equestria, and you’re not going to find many in Canterlot who would doubt him in a pinch. He's had his own reasons for not accepting rank, but I'm no longer humoring them.”
I blinked, and I wasn’t the only one. “Oh, Shiny, come on-” The prince’s flat look gave his fiancee- no, wife, pause. “...Not really, right? Idol isn’t dangerous-” I spun the helmet around, feeling it and nodding to myself. These ponies were worse than soft. A firm hoof was needed for them, not this ‘Equestrian sensibility’ nonsense. Every crystal pony had flinched when Shining said I was dangerous, as if dangerous ponies were not the best sort to have protecting you.
I wasn’t sure if Princess Cadance’s argument was meant as actual denial, but Shining clearly wasn’t finished, as he held up a hoof and rolled it. “As a recruit, we permanently took down a giant timberwolf, the method of which was his idea and very not protocol. Blew a hole out the back of a training dummy. Once jumped off a bridge to stop a petty thief. You said yourself he stood hoof to hoof against Queen Chrysalis. She beat him, sure, but she also took on Celestia. No, if I want someone who is going to do something crazy on my behalf, Idol’s the first I’m looking to.” He turned towards me as if to prove the point, as did all of the other disbelieving ponies, and I heard one murmur the Queen’s name. That news of changelings had made it here was… not ideal, but I could hardly be surprised.
More importantly, I probably should not have taken that precise moment to put the Sombran helmet on, but I had, and I nodded firmly as my own suspicions were confirmed, but also noted that Shining’s hoof had pressed against his face with enough speed and force to be audible. “You are all aware this armor is cursed, correct?”
From the shocked stares, they were not. I went on, “It is doing something to influence us negatively. Can you really not tell?” I tilted my head at them, feeling the presence within the helmet trying to burrow into my head. Whether I was naturally resistant, the spell did not work on changelings in the same way, or I was simply too crazy from the Queen’s own ministrations for it to work, I could not say, but I was glad that whatever it was had indeed turned out less capable than I had feared. “...If I had to guess, I believe it is trying to make me more susceptible to suggestion, and at very least more sympathetic towards Sombra.” I went to adjust it, and frowned. This was… more difficult. Perhaps I was less resistant or this command was more plain. “I do not think it wants me to remove it.”
Shining’s desperation was plain. “Idol, take it the buck off right now!”
A jolt went through me as the new Order struck, and I practically ripped the helmet off of my head, feeling much better and… surprisingly invigorated. “Thank you, sir. Stronger than I had thought. Perhaps proximity or even wearing it allows it more access?” I began peering into the thing, unsure of what I would find. I was a craftspony, true, but never had I done any sort of metal or magical workings of this nature. Interestingly, the inside of the helmet was far more rough, and the light did not… quite seem to illuminate the insides. I shrugged, and stuffed a hoof inside, using the obscurement to allow my hoof to shift, unseen, into a gryphon’s foreleg, feeling about within with greater finesse.
The shaggy pegasus, Amethyst, had backed up almost to the wall of the room. “Wait, that… that can’t be, that was my armor! I’d know if it… if it had done something to me! I’d never have brought it here-”
“I would imagine you had other concerns when it was first foisted upon you. I have worn wooden training helmets that were better padded,” I snapped, annoyed that this pony would so instantly jump to his own defense… then hesitated. I had taken to allowing myself far too much freedom with my emotions, but such open bitterness towards another was unlike me. I tried to marshal myself, schooling my emotions and gauging them with as much skill as I could muster as I trailed one of my temporary talons over the metal of the inside… and… there, just a tiny push of suspicion, fear, and worse. Returning talon to hoof, I withdrew from the helmet, grasped both sides of the metal, and reared up to drop my entire weight on the brim at an angle, splitting the surprisingly poorly made thing nearly in half and and driving it to the ground, and I could no longer hide my disgust as I found myself sneering at the thing beneath me.
The pegasus’s panic increased tenfold. “H-hey, wait-”
He did not approach, so I continued. “The quality is worse than it appears. I don’t think this would provide more than the most paltry of protection…” I began carefully stomping it flat, trying to isolate the source of the external emotion. There were the vagaries of runework on the rough metal, previously obscured by shadow, and… suddenly, quite unexpectedly, there was a ‘pop’ more physical than audible, and then there was nothing beneath me but cheap metal of poor forging and poorer aesthetics. A dark mist emitted as if squeezed from the very metal itself, and for a moment I thought it was moving in a specific direction before it dissipated entirely. In the same moment, I felt the unwanted sneer leave my features, and I rolled my jaw. “Hmm. And that is… apparently that. Forgive me, Prince Shining. I am no closer to understanding the precise mechanics.” I looked up to see that the advisor Amethyst was in the process of trying to prevent himself from regurgitating, and looked to be suffering mightily in the midst of something very akin to a panic attack. Cadance was at his side, attempting to calm and comfort him, and I could not help but wince.
Shining was staring at me as though I had grown a second head. “...I… I don’t think I actually knew you were that strong, Idol.”
“Ah,” I realized I had, perhaps, been too fixated on this issue. Whilst I was the target of a few glances, most appeared to be focused on their compatriot, who seemed to already be much recovered under Cadance’s watch. As always, care and love trailed off of her, and I was surprised to see it seemingly sucked into the pony, whose shuddering eased almost as soon as the absorption did. “...I was an excavator, sir. For the years before I came to Equestria, I spent most of my life breaking through stone with hooves alone. I have never quite given up the activity. More to the point, the armor is even more of a mess than you thought. I would not allow the armorer who made it to craft props for a children’s pageant.” I could not help but wipe my hoof off on the stones, leaving an actual smear. I blinked, and the helm to the side… bubbled, melting and losing more cohesiveness as the light of the room itself seemed enough to further its degradation.
Shining’s eyes went flat at my first words, but he nodded at the rest. As we watched the metal dissolve, he muttered back to me, “You know, I bet three cups of Joe’s and a doughnut that Sombra made them himself.”
“I do not think it is proper to take a bet with my liege. Particularly one I am so likely to lose.”
“...How in Tartarus did you know? I certainly didn’t. Maybe Cady did, she was giving it a wide berth, but everyone else…”
“For most of my life, I have been subject to mental manipulation of a skill that defies my ability to describe, and confess I have done it to some small degree myself. Even so, I’ve taken to recognizing the signs of thoughts and ideas not my own. This? This was amateur, and crass besides. Nothing Sombra did appeals to me, and he remains an enormous tool, and any thoughts to the contrary simply do not belong in my head. His work offends me professionally, and yet, I can already see how he accomplished it. Trickery, misdirection, and fear. Why would they even assume their perspectives were being altered, when Sombra himself was capable of causing so much actual terror?”
The prince nodded, understanding. “A perfect storm. Safeguards to… make him able to step back into power if he lost it. We’ve already found a couple others, but this one’s pretty insidious.” He nudged at the puddle with a hoof, then cast a glance to the rest of the armor. “Only the helmet, you think?”
“I do not know, but I would certainly check. I do not think this was particularly strong. The taste of it was… paranoia, mistrust, a little anger… guilt, certainly. A vile concoction, but all of it could lead one to be more easily manipulated. But I think it would build up like toxins, until one barely requires any effort at all to be led to obey.” I rubbed my tongue along my teeth, trying to cleanse the ‘feel’ of the negative emotional taint from myself. “How many of them have their own armor?”
“...Of the guards? Every one of the old ones. Sounded like you either put on Sombra’s colors or you walked into the cold with everyone you loved. And he pointed you North. Less did it than you’d think, but… maybe now we’re looking at why. And then there was everyone else he pressed into service, but we haven’t really approached any of them to join the guard. We might have to implement some kind of draft if we can’t get enough to have any sort of defense going.”
I considered that, feeling very real and genuine distaste curling my features at the damage done. “I do not think you killed him enough.”
“Yeah. Think shattering into a million pieces and exploding in a blast of light was too good for him. Heads up.” I looked up to see the pegasus in question lurching towards us, staring at the puddle, with emotions too muddled for me to get a clear read. I had done him harm, I had realized, and found myself steadying for another situation like after Discord. It was likely equally deserved.
“...Thank you,” the pony whispered, and when his eyes met mine, they were wet. “I don’t… I don’t know how to describe it. I thought I was going to die, and… and it’s like a stone from off my back.” A weak laugh. “It’s like a noose from around my neck! I wasn’t… I wasn’t… Amore! I feel like I’m back!” The laugh again, this time almost desperate. “Like I’m… someone who remembers who I was before.” He shook his head, then again, more vigorously, turning to Shining “I want to be a guard. I want to be a guard again, not just someone telling you how things used to be. I want to fix this, I think we can fix this. Nobody should have to live like that. Never again.” I was… not sure how to take this.
Shining nodded slowly, “We can work on that. We’d be glad to have you as both, or even just the latter, if that’s what you really want. C’mon, let’s have you looked at by someone before you start making any life choices, alright buddy?” He motioned the potentially restored guard to the door, taking a few steps with him before motioning him along to the others, who were now looking back to him with mixtures of hope and dread. The Prince looked back to me, expectantly. “Idol. Think we’ve got the first step on how to get ourselves an actual military again. How in Faust’s name do we use it?”
I snorted. “Sir? I have no idea.”
“...Well, get cracking. I think you might be the best pony for the job of figuring it out. If you’re going to be in charge of the Guard of the Empire, you’re going to need to figure out recruitment at some point.”
“Ironic. I shall see it done.” Then I flinched as the rest of the statement sank in. “I still think you should reconsider that last.”
“You find a more qualified pony in the Empire, and I just might,” the prince promised, returning to ushering the crystal ponies out, making royal assurances that I would not be doing this sort of thing every day.
Sweet Harmony, a way out. And all I had to do was the potentially impossible. And yet… oddly, I was beginning to find the challenge interesting. Sombra had attempted, was still attempting, to break these ponies, and I was tasked with foiling his efforts. I had never had a foe before. I was finding it… strangely appealing, even if it was unexpected trouble. And danger, with all these negative emotions, it could be harmful for a changeling... “Hmm. I may want to delay bringing Cersus here after all.”
"Who’s Cersus?”
“Oh, my daughter,” I began, and then found myself quite distracted as I tried to keep the Princess of the Crystal Empire from swallowing her tongue. I knew I had forgotten something.