Crystal Symphony [CYOA]

You stop in your tracks, you glance with a short throw towards the surrounding ruins of once beautiful, high-status metropolis, with a guarded attitude; you ponder loudly, “It doesn’t seem like the giant crab went here, does it?”

“No,” Red Sulfur pauses with an unhappy huff, “It doesn’t.” He calms down, his shoulders barely rising to a shrug, “Since it’s a giant cancer, not a crab, it probably went back to the ocean where it supposed to be.” He yawns.

You mentally sulk at him, “I don’t think they banish simple animals to Tartarus, Red Sulfur. It did something.”

“Rampage?” he sulks away, shaking his head, “Master is the one who knew the history and names of those monsters…”

“For one, I’m certain,” you say, “That cancer was made out of stars and nebulas, a constellation inside of it.”

“Curious,” Red Sulfur pauses and looks back at the mine, “Still, constellation or not, it’s a giant cancer.”

“Is… something wrong?” you ask Red Sulfur as your inner self raises her eyebrow, “You are acting strange.”

“I just,” he grunts, “Don’t like this, that prick – Acid Crust; we shouldn’t be doing this sidetracking. He’s no master of mine or yours, he was not even appointed by the king but by that mare of a Vizier.”

“Don’t worry,” you say, “We’ll return with Golden Shield and he, I don’t like him either, will be eating dirt then!”

*** *** ***

You come back to the same place you were before, the place you entered Manehattan through, only to find it empty. Not surprised by this development, the two of you follow the guidance of Red Sulfur’s robe and, after a brief walk through the suspiciously empty alleyways and hanging bridges, you end up spotting Mudbrick and Golden Shield engaging in what appears to be a rather heavy and spoiled disagreement, if not an outright battle of words.

Red Sulfur does not appear to care but you consider staying for a while and listening before you approach them.

“You’re making a mistake here,” is what you are able to distinguish from their ruckus. It is Golden Shield speaking.

>What do you do now?

>>28757728
Listen to the response before approaching.

You stop before the turn of the corner; you have just enough space to leave both you and Red Sulfur in cover yet close enough to allow you to overhear their discussion. You perk your crystallized ear, more out of force of habit than because of the necessity; the magic does it all for you, in its own dark, intangible and unexplainable way.

“Royal Legate,” Mudbrick growls at him as his salute trembles, “I will be taking our squadron and returning to the Crystal Empire to engage with the conversation of our superior, the Royal Vizier, and ask for her future orders.”

“Our squadron, yes,” Golden Shield circles around the olive pony with a hesitation, “They are under my command, Mudbrick, and so are you. Come on, you’re walking into the unknown, we don’t know what’s waiting there.”

“Affirmative, Royal Legate, which is why we must make sure that the Royal Vizier is safe,” he remains stoic.

“She’s not here, now, isn’t he?” he says with a troubled, but yet a simple and calm, demeanor, “I don’t like to use my authority, Mudbrick, you know that-”

“I do.”

“But she’s not here,” Golden Shield replies, “Which is why I’m forced to order you to stay here until further notice.”

“…Very well, Royal Legate, be it as you wish,” he places his hoof with an impact against his chest, begrudgingly.

“You two are –so– pessimistic,” Clover, who was nearby them all along, whispers, “Crystal Empire will be fine.”

>What do you do now?

>>28758032
Sure glad Shield talked him down. Go to see them now and explain our situation to him.

You wish you could sigh, yet you cannot, but you release your aggravation still. You give Red Sulfur a glance of certainty and then you, despite his second objection, push him into the open before the ponies present. Once they exchange their glances, Golden Shield approaches him with a broad, easy-going smile. You appear before him then, your cracking body radiant under the presence of the sun, akin to a beacon, as soon as you leave the shadow’s cover.

“Aurora,” Golden Shield looks over you with gullible surprise, not even bothering to ask if you had eavesdropped or not, “That was fast… you don’t look fixed; is something wrong?” His question is yours, but he asks Red Sulfur too.

“We’ve had an annoyance with the new Overseer, said he was told not to let anyone in,” Sulfur answers angrily.

“Oh,” Quoits Clover chuckles out innocently, barely audible, like a lady, “Dirtcrust is like that, yes, he takes the job the Not-So-Fair Trade gave him very seriously. Heard those two are very close, very close, you know?”

“Another one of your baseless lies,” Mudbrick furrows his brows and looks away, “With no facts or clues present.”

“Where were my guesses ever wrong, Mudbrain?” she says with a smile and leans closer to him.

“So,” you break the tense atmosphere of the two and allow Mudbrick just enough time to back down, “Golden Shield, do you think you can accompany us back? The sooner I’m fixed the better. ”

“Of course, Aurora Flare,” your companion smiles brightly at you, moving his hoof to clean some ash and dirt off your shoulder; affectionately, you imagine, maybe not. Your shoulder tenses and shrugs, yet you remain standing.

Then there’s a noise, a noise akin to a horn; a horn that is futuristic, a horn sound that was magically transformed into a mix of a high-pitched tone of a harmonica, a long, echoing tone of a xylophone and sound of cracking glass.

“Somepony is coming,” Red Sulfur comments with a narrow expression, “That might be…”

“It’s Blackward,” Clover smiles with a shake of her head, “He’s returning from one of his patrols.”

Then, in the minute or so, a pony with a skin of that of a dark, lunar eclipse lands, he lands, before you. His body is entirely decorated, no; it’s entirely molded with metallic plates, brass ironworks and other kinds of spare parts. The body of the one they call Blackward tenses as the cogs and pipes all over his body release a grayish, tinted smoke. The body of this crystal pony is barely visible, his skin resembling that of a blacksmith statue than of a normal pony. His two massive, clanging and augmented wings fold four times each and then automatically lean against his body. While his long mane, gathered in a ponytail, appears to be real, its heavy metal hue makes it appear fake, iron-like. While his flank is hidden by the metallic, rustic parts just as well, there’s an engraving of what seems used to be his cutie mark, or so you wager: iron clockwork with a black pony silhouette inside of it.

The stallion raises his sharp, orange eyes at the five of you and asks, “Legate, Centurion. You two look horrible.”

“That’s our line!” the two of them shout in unison.

>What do you do now?

>>28758430
Seems like they have some kind of broship going on here. Intoduce ourselves and let them talk before reminding as gently as possible that we need some repairs.

You decide to allow the three of them, or maybe four including Clover, to talk. You assume that they have not seen each other for a long while now, depending on how long ago the battle for Manehattan was fought and when the siege of Cloudsdale had transpired. You place your hooves into the ground and, standing firm, you stay patient, as patient as one can be when they are literally falling apart. You will put your annoyance aside… for Golden’s sake.

“All things aside, Legate,” Blackward says as his augmented body shivers, “And the fact I look as perfect as one can be when they were attacked by their own soldiers, you look better than dead – what I expected when I heard you got captured by Spitfire and her goons. I’m sure you know that Wonderbolts can fly for three days without a stop?”

“I didn’t,” Golden Shields says with a gullible frown.

“What do you mean they were attacked by their own soldiers?”

Blackward grunts and with a frustrated sigh shrugs his shoulder towards you, “The ‘Eye of Sombra’, it… Centurion, when are you going to put your beard in shape, do you not know that unwashed mane is perfect living place for fleas?” He gasps loudly; it looks silly when such an evil-looking, especially his harsh and demonic glare, pony does it.

“Look after your mane yourself,” Mudbrick grumbles but offers the strange-titled pony a salute, “Royal Hastiliarius.”

“What about my mane?” his eyebrow snaps as he immediately raises his hoof to check on his mane. “It’s perfect.”

“Wait,” Quoits Clover hangs as she narrows her eyes and approaches Blackward, “Ward, are you saying you went to the Crystal Empire without warning either me or Dirtcrust? I mean, I wouldn’t go there even if you asked me…”

“Oh,” the new stallion coughs, “It is well know that the mission efficiency lowers by ten percent with every additional companion added to an espionage, rescue or investigation mission. This is why… I made a mistake?”

“What do you mean – a mistake?” Shield asks him with uncertainty.

Blackward tosses his a soft shake, “I took two of my best Vanguard soldiers with me, but when we approached the ‘Eye of Sombra’ they immediately attacked me. The Crystal Empire is in disarray, Legate. What in the world happened?”

>What do you do now?

>>28758961
Sombra has returned.

>>28759153
Thanks for playing man, I might have to continue tomorrow, sorry about that.

>>28759642
That's ok. I appreciate and love you all the same. No homo.

>>28761463

>>28757721
fast bump

M-more replies would be nice.

>>28758032
Didn't we have this conversation before - convincing Mudbrick to stay the fuck here instead of returning? And holy shit, that Blackward guy sure gives me steampunk vibes.

Anyways, since I sobered up enough to actually enjoy this quest again, I may offer my suggestion. First, big news for the big metal guy. Sombra's back, he's angry, and he also bosses around three creatures freed from the Tartarus itself. So yeah, that's why the whole place is in "disarray". Our Beloved Leader probably wants to purge some ponies in charge to remind the rest how nice he is, that's what I assume at least. I have no idea if you know or not, but here in Manehattan crystal golems suddenly went rogue. We may have something right between civil war and cleansing on our hooves. That's about it.

>>28758961
The king came back from Tartaru.

Update soon.

“It’s simple,” you answer flatly, Blackward jolts his head at you, “Sombra has returned from Tartarus itself.”

With a flip of his hoof and the most awkward of steps, he approaches you closer. A stainless plate frame surrounding a red glass gruesomely appears from under his brow and, as if a monocle, slides over his left eye. It is a true wonder of Manehattan technology. Green letters and numbers are flashing alongside the screen as the stallion observes you.

After a brisk pause, the stallion finally asks, “Curious, I can’t sense a reason for your ability to speak, that shouldn’t even be biologically possible. You do appear to be one of the first generation. I’m sure you looked way menacing and simply better when you were not missing pieces of your body. Is she with you, Legate? How does-”

“Dark magic,” you raise your shoulders with a grinding motion, “That’s not important. Did you hear what I said?

“Who is this, Legate?” Blackward ignores you for a second time, inspecting you more like an object than a pony.

“This is Aurora Flare,” Golden Shield approaches him with a hesitant yet brute smile: “She’s a Crystal Golem.”

“I can see that,” Blackward comments. He has an evil looking glare plastered over his face, no matter what he says.

You huff and strike your hoof against the ground, your body and the earth itself crumbling at the impact. You speak in your monotone, aggravated tone of voice, “Sombra is back, that’s the reason his ‘Eye’ took control of your soldiers as soon as you they saw it, and that’s the reason all the Crystal Golems started acting hostile all of a sudden!”

“That would be all fine, and reasonable,” the Hasti-whatever speaks back, “But when I’ve made my trip towards the Crystal Empire I did not catch any presence of the King himself, just his ‘Eye’. The citizens are hiding, Vizier locked herself inside the castle walls as well, I think. Did you know that the Castle was the first thing our ancestors build to honor Princess Amore and the creation of the Crystal Heart?” He adds out of nowhere, thinking he won the debate.

“The Crystal Heart is missing; we might be on the verge of a political purge here, a civil war!”

Blackward stops and, with a confused expression, blinks at you, “It’s impossible to survive two years underground.”

>What now?

>>28764432
Maybe he's not alive anymore. If he was the one who commanded these powerful creatures, he might've forged a deal with the whatever devil ponies believe in, selling his soul. If he had one. Even if this is not the case, we must remember he was a really good magic user, and I'm sure there is a spell for "not breathing" or "adsorbing oxygen from unlikely sources". Oh, by the way. As you can see, we're intelligent and aware being, so treat us as such, thank you very much. Who would have thought a fucking metal pony will treat others like objects.

>>28764432
Of course the king is dead. how would he go to Tartarus and come back with three titans of tartarus and have them roam across equestria like it's their new playground.

>>28764432
We should all be well aware that Sombra is no "normal" pony.

“Of course the king is dead, Blackward, there’s no way a pony could venture into Tartarus, free the beasts imprisoned there and return back without making some sort of twisted deal; or being some kind of demon already.”

“Titans of Tartarus,” Blackward repeats with a shrug of his heavy, metallic shoulder, “Which do you mean exactly?”

“Apparently one of them was a giant hamster,” Clover intermits in-between with a yawn, “With thousand eyes.”

“It was an elephant-like creature,” Red Sulfur fixes Clover with the same tired, yawning expression, “With eyes.”

“Almost got it,” she whispers with an optimistic wink before walking towards Red Sulfur with a sultry, wobbling walk.

“Well if the King managed to go through all that and free the most dangerous creatures in all of Equestria, then we should applaud him. I’m not sure why the golems are our soldiers are attacking us, but the beasts are not. Am not ignorant, thank you very much,” he shakes his head to adjust his mane, “Cloudsdale fell to one of them, I saw it.”

“Wait; was it not just one of your ridiculous stories, Royal Strategist?” Mudbrick gasps in an obvious surprise.

Quoits Clover pouts at him, “It was, of course, my stories are all real, Mudbrain.”

You and Golden Shield exchange unnerving glances, “It has not even been a day… They fell that easy?”

“At first I thought it was your work, Centurion,” Blackward speaks, “Now, can’t congratulate you for nothing.”

“I still freed the Royal Legate,” he mutters back in a serious grumble, “It shouldn’t matter now, Blackward.”

“Sombra is not a normal pony,” you say, “He has dark magic on his side, and all kinds of spells. He’s an evil wizard.”

“Evil wizard, you say,” Blackward motions his hoof behind his neck and then scrubs the protection plate in a rub, “He might be evil, but a Archmagical Sovereign suits him better, and it’s more modern sounding than what you said.”

“I’m also intelligent and self-aware; I’m a pony just like you, just inside a crystal carcass. Treat us as such, please.”

The grayish stallion suddenly looks very hurt, his reaction to your complain leaving a sudden, obvious mark on his face. Blackward places his hoof over his chest, as if trying to grasp his beating heart, as he apologizes: “I didn’t meant to, Flare. Was not my intention, its trivial knowledge that ponies usually act on instinct alone towards other tribes or other races unlike them, it’s in their blood and mentality.”

“So, what now?” Mudbrick asks suddenly, his voice jerks. “I want orders. What are we going to do now?”

>What do you do now?

>>28764775
R E P A I R S

E

P

A

I

R

S

>>28764775
I want to get repaired.

>>28764775
I kinda like that guy. Also REPAIR
AND MORE REPAIR

“As I said, I would like to get a repair,” you raise your hoof sheepishly. “Can I?”

“That’s not what I’m asking,” Mudbrick hushes you with a grunt, “What we are going to do global-scale, Royal Legate? What is our mission now, what are your orders now? What are we going to do with the Crystal Empire?”

“Until the Manehattan Vanguard is in perfect shape, I have no reason to live this city, Centurion. And now, with no qualm or ruler-ship in the Crystal Empire, I’m going to remain here until the situation settles. They say that-”

“I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about,” Clover whispers with a smile, “None of those Tartarus beasts is attacking Manehattan anytime soon, and the Equestrians are now troubled by them to launch an attack on us. And even if they did, we would defeat them like we did last time, hundred against dozen, in a blast of glory.”

“I don’t think that happened,” Golden Shield shakes his head with a calm smile and then turns towards Mudbrick, “I’m not sure what we are going to do now, Mudbrick. Let’s relax and sleep on it, yeah? We’re not abandoning the Crystal Empire, if that’s what you are afraid. We just need time to think of how we are going to proceed now.”

“I’m ready, now or in an hour,” Mudbrick says with a salute, “Give me an order, I’m ready to move out.”

“Tomorrow,” Golden Shield turns towards you, “Maybe tomorrow. Come on, Aurora, let’s see the Royal Overseer.”

*** *** ***

You arrive to a surprised, though prepared, gasp of the muscular Overseer. Even compared to Golden Shield, who is now standing next to him, he was beautiful, majestic and tall. The Manehattan slaves react to the Royal Legate in the same manner they previously did towards you, in trembling and suspicious horror. Golden Shield greets Acid Crust with an uncomfortable welcome, and so does the Overseer. With a slow, compelling gesture, he offers your friend his hoof and the two of them shook it, there was no force put behind the gesture from neither of them.

“You must understand, Royal Legate, rules are rules,” he pauses, “We must follow them, so I was given mine.”

“Of course, Acid Crust,” he follows with an easy-going retort, “But now I’m here and my friend needs some repairs.”

“All of those ores and… materials are being used to further the war, Royal Legate; augmentations and weaponry.”

“Its fine,” Golden Shield says as he passes the bulky stallion with a calm trot, “We won’t take much.”

“As long as the Royal Vizier is aware…” he narrows his eyes at you, “Who the crystal ore is being used on.”

“Alright-Alright,” Red Sulfur yawns, “I get it, I get it. Now that you allow us the entrance, where are the materials you know nothing about located? Hopefully something that you discovered only a few hours ago - we need something called Fluorite? It’s a transparent gemstone.”

“I’m pretty confident we do not mind weird crystals in here, but come with me,” he pauses, “We will see…”

>This might take a while. Anything you’d like to talk about with Golden Shield meanwhile?

>>28765178
What do you think will happen to the Vizier? Why would Sombra be out tof kill everyone?

Also quietly suggest reaching out to the Equestrians or trying to find the rebellion.

>>28765178
What is our possibility of returning to the crystals empire?

>>28765178
>>28765262
I agree with the rebellion part. Now we're basically enemies of the state, so why not go the full way? We need allies to fight Sombra, and fight is inevitable as he wants to kill us.

>>28765306
0% for now, I'm afraid

“We are going to return to the Crystal Empire, are we not?” you ask Golden Shield with a present worry.

“Of course,” he says back calmly, “Fighting for the Crystal Empire is the only reason I’m still going here.”

You shake your head at his amusing response. Still, this whole thing is troublesome and you know that Golden Shield, more than anypony, is hiding his worry from others. He does not want to bother others, especially you – or so you think. “What do you think will happen to the Royal Vizier? Why do you think Sombra is trying to kill everypony?”

There’s a silence, a pause. Golden Shield remains quiet as he stares off into the dark, creeping distance.

“Golden Shield?” you remind him, waking out of his stupor, “Do you hear me?”

“Yes,” he replies back with a scowl, “I do. I’m not sure; the Royal Vizier became his new apprentice after you… died. She is continuing the assault of the Crystal Empire, you know? He might be evil, but that’s un-honorable to his own dream. I don’t know why he’s ordering the golems and the soldiers to attack us, Aurora, but I don’t think he discriminates. You have heard Blackward, right? They are attacking anypony they see, we are not an exception.”

“Sombra is not honorable,” you say, “What are you trying to say, Golden Shield?”

“That he simply ordered them to lay chaos and take control of what’s his, would explain the Tartarus Beasts.”

“… That’s true, but then, why didn’t he show himself yet?”

“I don’t know, Aurora,” Golden Shield admits, “I’m not sure how much the two years and Tartarus changed him.”

“We need to help the Equestrians,” you say begrudgingly, “And we must find the Crystal Empire rebellion!”

“We can’t spend time helping the Equestrians when the Crystal Empire is in anarchy, as for the ‘Rebellion Song’… Do you know where they are? I do not, and even if the Vizier knows, she did not tell me. The Frozen North, I presume.”

“That must be our chance, the Crystal Note is with them, it might be useful to find, to try to find.”

Golden Shield pauses, not sure how to react towards your words. The two of you exchange an awkward glance, his patriotic loyalty above the well-being of all Equestrians. Red Sulfur returns back with Acid Crust, breaking your silence. The well-dressed stallion adjusts his tie and shakes his head in a negative. Red Sulfur tucks his enchanted hood and speaks.

“There’s a problem, Aurora Flare. Listen…” he sounds tired, “If the fresh Guanine Fluorite is placed next to other ores or any sort of objects, in a couple of hours it takes physical contact of the matters it’s in contact with. The only way to avoid that is to keep is isolated in vacuum or in the crust it is found it; but this mine does not cover that.” He sighs, “It’s rare to find, and all the Fluorite they could possibly have had mined is already turned into something else.”

>What do you do now?

>>28765590
Look like we are going be putting other crystal into our body. Great, just great.

>>28765590
So it is basically a planned purge. And we can't repair ourselves easily. Well, our only other option is to get other golems' remnants and then count for the best.

>>28765590
I give up. Tell Red to use the next best thing.

I meant for us to perhaps seek asylum in Equestria or join forces to take on Sombra.

You dejectedly hang your head at the news. You sigh, “I guess that’s it, then. Let’s use the golem remains then.”

“I…” Acid Crust pauses, grabbing your attention. You look offer his cute, narrowed eyes as he speaks in low, gentle and hypnotic voice, “We have no use for those disloyal statues… You can use their remains all you want, golem.”

You mentally cork your crystallized eyebrow, “…Thank you?”

“If you want to… use any other of the crystals we have,” he narrows his eyes at Red Sulfur, “Tell me first.”

“Yeah, sure,” Red Sulfur shrugs his shoulder nonchalantly, “Will do, Acid Crust.”

“That is,” he pauses, “Royal Overseer Acid Crust to you.”

“Its fine, thank you for your help, Crust,” Golden Shield answers with a kind smile, “Return to your duties.”

You wait until the perfect stallion from the outside, but a rotten creep in the inside, disappears from your view. You sigh, your voice that of a grinding trembles. Red Sulfur approaches you with ambiguity, “Aurora, listen. If we do find a way to repair you, we can just remove the pieces of the crystal flesh that are not yours. And then, when we have time, we can search for the fluorite at our own leisure when all of this is over. Let’s not rush,” he yawns.

“Right, thank you Red Sulfur,” you wish you could smile back at the youthful, lethargic stallion. You do the next best thing – you add a note of optimism to your crystallized voice, and apparently he apprentices it, or so you hope.

“Golden Shield,” you turn towards your companion, “What I was trying to say was for us to, I meant, for us to perhaps seek asylum in Equestria or join forces to take on Sombra.”

“Asylum?” Golden Shield astonishes, “Forces, we already had that discussion with the Cloudsdale Forces, but the only place they’ll allow us sanctuary is Cloud Nine, I think. We can hope, I hope, but…”

“They are not that bad, and they are facing struggles against those Tartarus beasts, are they not?”

“That’s true, but those attacks are lead by the king that the Crystal Empire is controlled by. Except the fallen Cloudsdale, none of them is aware of who and what we are, asides bad rumors. You are a Golem; I’m the Royal Legate… I’m not even sure if we should stand against him. How welcome will they really be towards us?”

“Are you saying you’ll retake the Empire yourself?” Red Sulfur asks weakly, “How in the world we’ll do that?”

“I…” he hesitates, “I do not know, not yet.”

>What do you do now?

The victory is yours alone.

That is all for today, thank you all for playing. I'm not sure about the following days, but for sure the next proper session will be next week same pony day and pony channel.

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