//------------------------------// // Chapter 55: Crystal Purification // Story: The First Steps of the Rest of Your Life // by Rhino //------------------------------// ***Saturday, Day 48, afternoon*** I stare for a moment at the sky wondering if it is just a fluke, or if things are about to go downhill fast. After a few seconds though, the sky returns back to its blue tint as I see the shield rise again. I turn my gaze back to the masses but it seems nopony else had taken notice, a fact that is probably for the best. I shove the incident to the back of my mind as I begin heading back towards Hydro’s stand to see if Volt made it there. As I arrive, I notice that the line has indeed thinned out since last I was here. I approach my two friends who notice me as I get closer. I hail them, “It looks like everything’s calming down now. Any problems?” Volt shakes his head as he serves some grilled peppers to a couple of mares, “No, everything’s fine. Food is cooking, ponies are eating, and Hydro’s apron gets enough glances that I get to ‘grill’ him about it.” As if summoned by a supernatural force, a spatula makes its presence known at the last part of Volt’s statement by rapping him none too gently over the head. I look over to Hydro to see him only now turning away from the grill and setting the spatula in question down as he takes a break. A rumble of thunder causes us all to peer at the once again flickering sky, in the end it remains blue, but the sight is still slightly unnerving. A telltale flapping sound announces the arrival of a pegasus, and the chromatic contrail cementing it’s owner’s identity. Not even five seconds later, a darker blue pegasus follows, noticeably more out of breath than his predecessor. I look over to my earth pony friend as Blue catches his breath, “I don’t suppose I’m lucky enough for that bit of rumbling to be the result of you bribing weather ponies with sweets for extra rain again, right?” Hydro shakes his head, “Nope, wasn’t me this time.” Volt looks at us questioningly, “What was that about bribing weather ponies?” Rainbow quickly interjects, “Nothing you need to worry about or look into.” Blue takes the conversation ball next as he motions us all away from the stand, lowers his voice, and leans in towards the rest of us, “Right, we’ve got more important things to worry about right now than cookies for clouds.” Blue quickly explains to the rest of us, with supplemental information by Dash, that Cadance’s magic is indeed weakening, but we still need the crystal ponies to be happy. Apparently they need to power a magical artifact that still needs to be located by Twilight. Our jobs are essentially the same, but with a distinct note of urgency now. Volt immediately runs off to see if he can help Twilight out while Hydro heads back to his stand. Blue flies off to see if he can find Pinkie to let her know the situation, leaving Rainbow and myself suddenly alone. She turns to me after watching Blue fly off, “Actually there’s something I wanted to ask you too.” I nod my head at her, “I’m listening.” She continues, “Do you know where Fluttershy is? I was planning on getting her to fight me in the jousting arena to keep the crystal ponies’ spirits up.” Hardly a second passes before my expression falls at the suggestion. It doesn’t take much to know that this would be a terrible idea for my marefriend considering her timid nature, aversion to crowds especially those looking at her, and gentle disposition that tends to not enjoy being a part of any acts of aggression. I feel my mood take a downward turn as I envision what might happen if a pony like Rainbow took on a pony like Fluttershy in this kind of act. Just as I am ready to tell her exactly what I think of her plan, a large red presence makes itself known next to me as my best friend’s voice cuts through my intentions, “What are you talking about over here?” Dash explains briefly and Hydro responds, “How about instead, I fight Atom? Might make for a hay of a fight.” The chromatic pegasus thinks about this a moment before nodding her head in agreement, “Yeah, that’ll work. Probably a better fight than one between me and Fluttershy anyway.” She races off in the direction of the arena. As we watch the retreating mare, I ask my friend without turning my head to him, “Now how did you manage to have perfect timing there?” Hydro remarks casually as we head back to the grilling stand to pack up, “The mental link was buzzing so I knew something was up. The line at my place is pretty much gone now, so I figured that this would be the perfect way to help you.” I let out a sigh to relieve the little stress I had gotten from Rainbow’s suggestion, “Gotta love that link. Thanks bro.” ***Meanwhile, in the Crystal Palace*** Twilight darts from room to room looking in any place that might contain the Crystal Heart. “It’s got to be here somewhere,” she says to herself. Volt enters the room with Spike, the two watching the librarian search. Seeing that the mare doesn’t seem like she is going to be stopping soon, Volt tries to get her attention. “Twilight, can we talk about something?” Her head snaps to the two males at the sound of Volt’s voice. “Volt, be careful you don’t help me. I am looking for the crystal heart. Celestia gave me this assignment and I have to make sure nobody helps me.” Her eyes lock onto the drake, “That includes you, Spike.” The dragon chuckles nervously as he quickly puts down the rug he was looking under. Volt nods but continues trying to speak to her with a concerned look on his face, “Okay. But the thing I want to talk to you about is that you never mentioned you had a brother before. All those times I asked you about yourself, you never said you had large muscular older brother who looks like he could break my spine in two.” He gulps. Twilight continues searching and gives no sign that she heard him. Suddenly she brightens up and exclaims, “Of Course!” “Hmm?” Volt says as he looks at her. “Did you find it?” Spike asks, eyes hopeful. She shakes her head but looks no less excited, “No, because this isn’t King Sombra’s castle.” “Isn’t this where he lived when he was in power?” Spike asks. Volt follows the two into the throne room, “Uhhh Twilight, did you hear anything I said?” The lavender unicorn waves him off, ”Volt, we need to focus on the crystal heart right now. We can talk later. Any way this is his castle but it didn’t look this way.” The electric pony nods understandingly, “Fair enough. Now, how would we know what the castle’s previous architecture looked like? Maybe there are some blueprints…” Volt’s voice fades mid-sentence as he stares at Twilight who has engulfed herself in horn in bubbling dark magic. She fires the new type of magic at the crystal on top of the throne. The dark magic flows across the floor, revealing a hidden staircase. As Twilight works her magic, Volt clutches his head as sparks erupt from his horn. His eyes become unfocused and looks as if he is about to fall over. Spike is occupied by the recently opened floor as he asks in wonder, “Whoa where did you learn that?” “A little trick I learned from Cele-Volt?” Twilight’s explanation stops as she notices her coltfriend acting oddly. She quickly trots over and helps to keep him from falling over as he regains his composure. He groans as he goes back to normal, “That felt horrible. It felt like my horn was icing over and I couldn’t get a grip on my magic. My head wouldn’t stop hurting and my vision went fuzzy. It might just be dehydration though or the rapid change in climate. I can’t tell what’s normal with me anymore after I dived into Fluffers .” Spike snarks from across the room, “Geez if it’s not water that’s weakening you it’s the lack of water.” Volt glares at the drake a moment before he looks to see Twilight descending the ominous stairs. She calls back to them as she makes her way down, “You guys stay here.” The two males wait a few uneventful minutes until they hear Twilight call up to them. “Hey, can you two see outside?” Volt and Spike glance out the window to see the flashing sky as the shield flickers. A low muffled “Crystals” can be heard rumbling in the distance. “Not too big on sentences is he?” Volt says jokingly. Spike ignores the comment and immediately runs to the stairs and yelled down. “Not good. Cadance’s magic is fading faster than before.” What proceeded to be heard was the sound of a Twilight falling down the stairs as her horn light faded in the distance. Spike calls down after the noise stops, “Twilight, are you okay?” An echo rises from the depths of the stairs, “Yes.” Volt pats the dragon on the head and remarks reassuringly, “Don’t worry. It happens to me all the time.” He then begins making his way down the stairs. Spike looks at the unicorn questioningly, “Where are you going? She told us to stay up here.” Volt answers without breaking stride, “I am going to make sure she didn’t actually hurt herself.” The young dragon ponders this for a moment before following, “Good idea. She won’t admit it if she did.” As the two make their way down the stairs, Volt suddenly groans and holds his head. “I’m getting that feeling again…” The electric stallion wobbles a moment before inevitably losing his balance and following his marefriend’s approach of tumbling down the stairs. Spike finally catches up to the fallen stallion at the bottom of the staircase, “You weren’t kidding when you said it happens all the time. We should seriously start a checklist of all you weaknesses. Let’s see: water, lack of water, stairs, female contact…. Twilight?” Volt remarks as he picks himself up, “Female contact and Twilight would both be classified under the same category though.” “No, look at Twilight.” Spike says, pointing out Twilight staring at a wall within an open door way. Volt approaches the mare, “Twilight? What are you staring at?” Suddenly she shakes her head and looks back at him with a confused face. The lavender mare doesn’t say anything as she tries to compose herself. She works her way behind the doorframe as the two males look closer at the wall the door leads to. Suddenly, Volt’s and Spike’s eyes flash and begin glowing green with red irises as they stare into the wall. “Ponyville?! Well, how did I get... no! I don't wanna go! Please, Twilight, don't leave me!” The young dragon quickly starts to break down at what he is seeing. Volt, adversely, doesn’t say a word or move a muscle. He simply stares into the doorway in silence. Twilight, seeing the two caught in the same trap she had been in, kicks the door shut breaking the illusion. As the stallion and drake collect themselves, she explains what happened, “King Sombra's dark magic. A doorway that leads to your worst fear.” Spike’s voice is unsteady as he recovers, “We were home... you told me you didn't need me anymore. You were sending me away...” Twilight puts on a caring smile as she wraps her assistant in a loving embrace, “A fear that will never come to pass, I will never send you away.” Volt, meanwhile, has fully freed himself from his own nightmare. Realizing that he too was affected, Twilight approaches Volt with cautious worry, “Volt what did you see?” Volt is quiet for a moment before he answers, giving a slight shiver as he does so, “Spiders. Spiders everywhere.” He gives the mare a small smile, “Could I get a hug too?” Twilight giggles as she walks over and wraps her hooves around her coltfriend. Spike’s voice causes both unicorns to glance over to him, “Water, lack of water, stairs, female contact and spiders.” Volt glares at the drake, Twilight’s attention however, is drawn to the small amount of blood coming from the stallion’s nose. “Volt, what happened?” Twilight asks, motioning to the blood. Volt quickly wipes the blood off before answering, “I got another headache and fell down the stairs.” Twilight neglects to reply on the stairs comment since she fell down them as well, but the first part of his statement makes her put a hoof to her chin in thought, “A headache again? I doubt dehydration is causing it... Last time it happened when I used dark magic to reveal the stairs. I used it again down here. Could be a coincidence, but perhaps that’s what’s causing it.” Volt adopts a similar thinking pose, “Hmmm. That could be it. The dark energy must be causing my weird magic to go haywire.” “Well, in any case, we need to get past this door. Dark magic doesn’t work, so let’s try… this!” Twilight blasts the crystal in the top of the door with her normal magic. The door shines brightly before opening to reveal a bright white room beyond. The unicorn mare trots through and takes a look around as the stallion and drake stay in the other room. “What is it?” Spike asks cautiously. Twilight sighs explosively as she looks back to the guys, “Stairs. Lots and lots of stairs.” She begins making her way up the stairs before turning around and addressing Spike and Volt with a small smile, “Maybe you guys should come with me this time.” The guys give smiles of their own and quickly follow her. ***Crystal fair arena*** **Rhino’s POV** The excitement permeating the air is almost tangible. It seems as though every crystal pony, young, old or in between, is here at the track. The stands are full to the extent that ponies are standing in any place they can see between tents. The low murmur of the crowd can be heard no matter the distance as the wide eyed residents eagerly await the match while the competitors prepare themselves. Rainbow, Blue, Fluttershy, and I are standing close to the arena in the staff area. Officially, we are there to make sure the crystal ponies remain happy despite the looming danger until we can get everything ready for them to work their magic. Unofficially, we are using this time to take a break ourselves, support our friends in this endeavor, and maybe make a few good-natured bets. “I’m saying 10 bits on Atom winning,” Rainbow says as she looks out over the crowd, “I’ve seen the Royal Guard in action a few times, if Atom made it in there, he’s gotta be good.” She looks over to the rest of us, “What do you guys think?” Fluttershy answers with worry in her voice, “I just hope they’ll be okay. They’re not going to get hurt by this right?” Rainbow waves off her worries, “No way! The lances are blunted and the armor is reinforced in the chestplate. Most either of them will get is a bruise.” Fluttershy breathes a little easier, “Oh, okay. I still don’t think I can choose though. I’ll just cheer for both of them. Woo hoo!” Her cheer is undoubtedly the quietest I have ever heard, but the intent is there and the sheer adorableness of the attempt makes it fine by me. Dash simply smiles and shakes her head like she expected that as she turns to myself and Blue, “What about you two?” Blue shrugs, “I think I’m gonna go with 10 bits on Atom. He’s been watching these all day, he’s got to have learned a trick or two.” I break my silence I’ve been holding for a time as I’ve been going through what I know about each pony in my head, “I’m probably slightly biased for this, but from what I know, I think I’ll match you two with 20 bits on Hydro. From what I know about both of them, this is going to be a good match either way.” A sudden flugelhorn blast causes both Fluttershy and I to jump as it announces the match. The crowd’s volume spikes as both competitors march to their respective ends of the pitch. Both Atom and Hydro are clad in the traditional crystal armor set, resulting in mohawks for both of them, not really a change for Atom, but it’s a new look for Hydro, as well as overall luster increase for each of them. It even appears our former Guard chose to keep on his shades for the match. Both of them give a wave to the crowd, sparking even more vocal support as various ponies wave flags matching the color of their chosen knight. The crowd dies down as the knights prepare for the charge. The two launch themselves down their lanes at a breakneck pace as everypony holds their breath in anticipation. They close in, neither turning away nor flinching. The two armored ponies collide with almost explosive force as their lances impact the center of each other’s chest and subsequently shatter from the force. As the pieces of their weapons scatter, the two combatants are feeling the force as well. Both ponies are tossed back, however, Hydro plants his hooves firmly and only skids back a few hooflengths as opposed to Atom who skidded back the entire length of the pitch. Hydro raises his head and hoof as the crowd recovers from the shock of the impact and cheers his victory even as I collect my winnings from the blue pegasi next to me. ***Back with Twilight, Volt, and Spike*** The group continues making their way up the stairs. Spike speaks up as a thought occurs to him, “What if this is just more of his magic? He makes a door that leads to your worst nightmare... why not a staircase that goes on forever?” Twilight thinks about this for a moment as she cranes her neck to look upwards. After a moment, she looks back to the others, “I might have a spell for this, but I don’t think I can use it on all three of us.” Volt waves Twilight’s objections off with a hoof and gives a reassuring smile, “I got this Twi. You take Spike and I’ll catch up.” The lavender mare gives the stallion a curious glance but nods her head in agreement, “Alright. Spike, hold on tight.” With the drake on her back, Twilight sticks her tongue out in concentration as she gathers her magic for a spell. She slowly rises before a great flash erupts and suddenly she and spike are sliding up the bottom of the stairs as gravity is reversed on them. Volt looks up in awe at the magical display as the two make their way up the stairs. Once they are out of sight, he smirks to himself as he says, “Let’s see if I’ve got the hang of this yet.” Volt horns glows with yellow magic as small spasms are seen throughout his body. “Lightning reflex spell.” Volt says to himself before taking off up the stairs at a greatly heightened pace. ***Crystal fair*** Things definitely seem to be going in a steady decline around the town. The flickering sky and rumbling is an almost constant thing now, and isolated incidents of dark crystals sprouting out of the ground are starting to be seen. The other Ponyville ponies and I are doing our best to keep the crystal ponies happy despite it all. I am currently patrolling the in between streets to make sure there are no straggling ponies. A small vibration in my saddlebag causes me to stop and look into it, revealing the movement to be my Gemini gem going off. The familiar face of my marefriend appears in the largest face of the jewel as I pull it out of my bag. Her voice is laced with worry as she speaks, “Rhino, I really need your help!” This instantly gets my full attention, “What is it Shy?” She speaks quickly, “One of the lambs at the petting zoo was scared by the storm and ran off! I can’t go after it because I have to stay here to keep the rest of the sheep calm. Rhino, please can you find the runaway?” Her voice is almost begging by the time she finishes. I nod quickly and put on a serious face to reassure her, “Don’t worry Fluttershy, I’ll find it before anything happens to it. Did you see which way it went?” A few directions later and I am quickly Resing my way through the town to make sure a lost lamb stays safe. ***Crystal retrieval group*** Twilight and Spike make it to the top of the staircase before re-orientating to proper gravity, crashing as they do so. They look around and see a large pure crystal in the shape of a heart in the room’s center. After a moment, Volt arrives at the top of the stairs himself, his breathing rapid and his movements sluggish. Twilight appraises her coltfriend a moment before realization dawns on her face and she admonishes him accordingly, “Volt… Did you use that spell that enhances your movement speed? I told you that you shouldn’t be using it until it was perfected. You know all the side effects it has.” Volt’s ears fold down even as he tries to catch his breath, “Sorry Twilight. I’ve been practicing and wanted to show you how much I improved.” Suddenly, his left foreleg stiffens, causing him to trip over it and onto the ground, “But my leg might have given out on me.” Twilight sighs, “At least it’s just one leg this time. You need to be more careful. I didn’t train you so you could be reckless with your magic.” As he lies on the ground, the stallion averts his eyes from the mare, “Sorry Twi. I was just trying to impress you.” Twilight, noticing his distress, goes over, helps him up onto his good leg, and offers some morale, “Well, it definitely does look like you’ve improved. Maybe when we get done I can help you with that spell some more. For now though, let’s go get the Crystal Heart.” Spike walks behind the two as he counts off on his claws, “Water, lack of water, stairs, female contact, spiders, and yourself.” Volt ignores the dragon as he limps over with Twilight to the crystal heart. As soon as the two step near the artifact, Volt’s headache returns as crystals appear from the floor trapping both ponies in the center with the heart outside. ***Rhino*** I dodge around another crystal outcropping as I pursue the lamb. The little blue fleeced creature in question seems to be just running in blind panic ever towards the outskirts of the empire. As we clear the last buildings on the edge of the city, I see my opportunity to catch up to my quarry as we enter a relatively open field. I quickly Blink up to the little fluff ball and levitate it so it can’t run away. The lamb still struggles in my grasp, flailing away and making me worry that it will injure itself if it doesn’t stop soon. I quickly bring the lamb back down to the ground but maintain my hold on it with my magic as I try to calm it down, “There now little one, I’ve got you. You don’t need to run off alright? I’m just trying to get you back to your friends and family. You do want to see them again right? Just calm down and we can get you back, okay?” I continue speaking in a slow quiet tone like this for a few minutes. The sheep here seem to be a bit less sapient than, say, the ones on Applejack’s farm, but even if it does not understand what I am saying, my tone seems to have the desired effect. Slowly but surely, the lamb calms down. I set the creature down as I smile in success, before I look around me and notice where I am. My surroundings have deteriorated drastically since I was chasing my quarry. The sky is no longer flickering and is a dark angry orange. I face the outside of the city and can see a quickly approaching wall of smoke that threatens to overtake myself and the little one at any moment if we don’t move. I quickly nudge the sheep towards the center of the city, away from the smoke, and we start making our way there. Before we make it even half a dozen steps, I hear the ground erupting all around us. I can see dark crystals popping up with startling frequency. While some appear nowhere near us, other growths appear right in our path and force us to work around them. As I dodge around one crystal, I hear the frantic bleat of the lamb behind me. I turn to see that a small crystal has sprouted up so close to the lamb that it entangled the fleece and now keeps the sheep from moving. I quickly double back and spend a moment freeing the lamb from the crystal. Just as I get the little one free, a sudden wave of smoke assaults both of us. My eyes water and I have a small coughing fit as the smoke engulfs us and moves past, leaving us surrounded and unable to see where anything is. I feel the base of a large crystal with a hoof and can barely make out its size in the smog, I quickly bring the lamb with me as we take shelter on the lee side of the crystal and crouch down to try and minimize our contact with the smoke. The little lamb cowers against me as we both cough a small bit of smoke out. To my dismay, I see that this crystal barely provides any shelter from the rolling smog. I am vaguely aware of my magic cutting off as I feel several small crystals growing on my horn. I notice the sheep still coughing as it tries to raise its head. Instinctively, I wrap myself around the little one to shelter it as well as to keep its head down and out of the smoke. As we lay there, I look down and notice that as the smoke flows over us, those parts of my body that are engulfed in it, which is pretty much everything except the lower half of my face and hooves because of my position, are feeling strange. I slowly see what appear to be tiny crystals forming across my coat, giving the sensation of dried mud caked on one’s fur with a coating of prickly plants within it. I let out a few more coughs as I try to swipe off or break the crystal growths, but they remain firmly attached to me. I lay there for an unknown amount of time, simply sheltering the lamb while I slowly become weighed down by the crystal growths even as the smoke works its way into my lungs in small amounts. As I mull over thoughts of my friends and my marefriend, my ear perks as I hear something curious from somewhere within the smog. A sound, almost like a far off roar of defiance, echoes from somewhere. A sharp breath I unintentionally take causes me to get some nice lungfuls of smoke even as I hear another much louder sound approaching. As I struggle to rid myself of the thick smog, a sudden rush of air blows the remaining smoke away while stripping the crystals from both the ground and my body. The lamb and I peer up to see a glorious blue sky, and the sense of a looming threat all but gone.