//------------------------------// // Kingdom of the Crystal Heart // Story: A Different Bridal Path // by Stainless Steel Fox //------------------------------// Twilight came awake slowly. There was a vague ache in her temple where the branch had hit, but on the other hoof there was a lack of being thrown about by a rampaging torrent, so on the whole her situation had improved. She could feel that she was lying on something cold and solid, which meant she was no longer wearing her parka. Her fur and mane were saturated, which only made both the air and the surface under her feel colder. The air smelled of stone and ice, and she could hear the rushing, burbling sound of running water, which echoed slightly. Having exhausted her other senses, she opened her eyes, to find a set of eyes looking back at her. "Ahhh!" She started at the shock of finding someone there. The light blue earth pony had a black mane, tied back with a band, and his face showed an expression of surprise which quickly turned to worry. "Are you okay?" "I... I think so, I'm sorry, I didn't expect to see anyone here... wherever here is." She looked around as she rolled over to get her legs under her. It was a cavern, as she'd guessed from the echo. There were fantastic pillars and clusters of crystal, seemingly illuminating the cavern, but much of the rest of the walls were made of stone, with stalactites and stalagmites that suggested sedimentary rock. Some distance behind her a rushing stream cut it's way down through the cavern, one of several, and all of them ultimately fell into the chasm that spanned much of the central length. Closer by was a pile of gear, her saddlebags and cold weather gear. She might be cold, and a little disoriented, but she quickly realised something. "You... you saved my life! Thank you!" Her savior rubbed the back of his neck with a hoof while looking embarrassed, but his widening smile showed he appreciated her gratitude. He actually turned away for a second and she heard a shivering, chattering sound. He must be cold and trying not to show it, not surprising if his fur was still wet. He finally turned back and spoke. "It's okay, I saw you floating down that river and saw you were about to go over the edge. Any pony would have done the same thing." "But you were the one who did." Twilight replied, casting a small spell to remove the water from her fur; it sprang about an inch off her coat in all directions then drained away. She started moving over to her gear. "May I know who you are?" "Tho... For... ward... yes, that's me, Forward Ho." He made another chattering sound that sounded almost like hissing. "I'm sorry, I can't help that..." "You must be freezing, diving into the water after me." She offered him the parka, which had dried quickly once removed from the water thanks to the charms on it. "I'm Twilight. Twilight Sparkle." As soon as she said it she winced internally. This was a the first pony she'd met since the Royal Wedding. He might know what she'd done, and might well not be as accepting as the caribou. Fortunately he didn't seem to react, other than putting his hoof up to stop her. "It's alright, you need it more than me. How did you end up in the water in the first place?" She felt slightly guilty as she donned her parka, but grateful to him all the same. Of course, she realised, he had earth-pony resilience to help him resist the cold. "I was attacked by a yeti up on Frost Field Glacier. I managed to get away but in the process I fell into a snow covered crevasse. The stream at the bottom carried me away, I hit my head and woke up here." "Is that how you damaged your horn?" She did her best not to wince at the blunt question. He was an earth-pony, she thought, he couldn't know how sore a subject that might be. "No, that was earlier on. How far have I come?" To his credit, he must have been perceptive enough to pick up her discomfort, as he looked away, embarrassed. "Sorry. These caverns run under the middle of the frozen north, so, quite a way, I guess. Are you feeling better?" "Much better, thank you." She felt warmed by his concern, and he seemed pleased at her recovery, his movements more energetic. She noticed the earthenware pot on his flank. "I'm guessing from your name and cutie-mark you're an explorer, maybe an archeologist? Northern Star's journals mention caverns like this in relation to a lost crystal city of ponies. I guess that's why you're here." "Uh, yes, yes I am." he smiled nervously. He must think I'm after the same thing, she thought. "Oh, don't worry, I'm not an archeologist myself, I just read a lot. In fact I can lend you Northern Star's journals if that will help. It's the least I can do for you. I'd love to hear all about what you've discovered so far." He shied slightly at that. Stupid Twilight! She berated herself, of course he's not going to want to talk about his exploration if he's trying to keep his priority on any discoveries. "Or not. Um... you must be hungry. I have some supplies I can share." "I'm okay, but feel free to eat something yourself." Twilight frowned, she wanted to do _something_ to thank him. She decided to try another of Northern Star's spells from before he got his fancy cold weather gear. She had plenty of magic, even if she could only funnel a trickle through her broken horn. Fortunately the spell she had in mind was only a short step above a cantrip power wise, though quite complex from a casting point of view. It should be just within her current ability. Her horn glowed and a purple glow surrounded Forward Ho, who flinched and gave a yelp. A thin sheen of water, much less than the amount that came off her, sprang away from his coat. "Sorry! I didn't mean to startle you, it's just a thank you, I dried you off and applied an Endure Elements spell. It's not quite as effective as this parka, but it should keep you warmer than you would be with bare fur. I'm surprised you weren't as saturated as I was, but I guess I was in the water for longer." "I... Thank you. I do feel warmer." "It's the least I can do." Twilight wondered what to do next. Meeting Forward Ho had opened up new possibilities. If he'd come here from Equestria, that meant Equestria was reachable from here. If she could trek back, maybe to one of the northern settlements like Rainbow Falls, she could get in touch with her friends, even Celestia, and access her Royal stipend. From there she could get the train back home to Ponyville or Canterlot... Her train of thought was brought to a halt by the washed away bridge of fear. How would they react, what would they say, what would she say? She was still a killer, even if it was for a good reason. It was her fault that Chrysalis had even gotten as far as she had, because Twilight had failed to warn every-pony. Would they be willing to accept her back? She desperately hoped so, but she still couldn't shake the fear that they might reject her. Even if they did want her back, what would become of her? With her ruined horn, she could no longer be Celestia's student. While it was growing back, she'd almost certainly never regain her former channeling capacity. Maybe Ponyville would let her keep being librarian, if her friends still wanted to _be_ her friends. If not she knew she could find a home with the caribou. For that matter she should let them know she was safe... "What's wrong?" The concerned words shook her out of her daze. Forward Ho was looking at her with a worried expression. "Sorry, I was thinking about what I was going to do next. It's... complicated." She had a sudden thought. "Have you heard any news from Canterlot?" He looked stunned, then quickly answered, "No! I mean no, I haven't been there in a long time. Did something happen?" "If you call an invasion 'something', then yes. These insect-like creatures called Changelings attacked the city. Their queen was a shape-shifter and replaced Princess Cadence. She stole love from Cadence's fiancee - they use love as food you see, and to fuel their magic - and became powerful enough to take on Princess Celestia." "What happened to her?" "Don't worry, Princess Celestia is alright! At least I'm pretty sure she is, the sun's been rising and setting normally. I... stopped Chrysalis. That was how my horn got damaged. In the process I got teleported far away, to the north of Mount Everhoof, the region the caribou call Wintergard. Don't believe the rumours, they're friendly. They took me in, and it was while we were out on a berry gathering expedition that I met up with the yeti." Twilight gave a mental sigh of relief. She'd avoided talking about anything too painful or personal, while still giving a reasonably accurate report. Forward Ho still looked a bit poleaxed though. "I guess this is a lot to take in. Maybe we should go to your camp, or somewhere we can rest... that is if you don't mind." "Uhh, that is, I don't really have a camp." Twilight frowned in puzzlement. "But then where are your supplies?" "I live off the land." He gave a weak grin. "You rely on forage, up here? Even caribou have to work at finding enough forage to support themselves. You must be really good at adventuring! Hmmm... do your earth-pony magic powers include terravoyance?" Seeing his confused look she explained, "It's actually a name I made up for the ability, a sixth sense relating to things of the earth. You know instinctively where north is, the lay of the land, the direction to the nearest food and water sources, as an archeologist maybe walk over a dig site and know where to dig to find the buried artifacts. I have a spell that can detect nearby food, well, crystal berries, but something like that would be far more useful. You know there are still some idiots in Canterlot who don't believe earth-ponies have any magic beyond brute strength and toughness...." She stopped herself and let out a sigh. "I'm sorry, I'm babbling aren't I? It's just so good to see another pony, especially a fellow scientist. I'll shut up and let you speak." That actually raised a smile from her companion. "No, it's okay, go on. You clearly love what you're talking about, and it's good to see a friendly face after being on my own." At that point, Twilight's stomach made it's opinion known with a loud rumble. Twilight blushed. "Um... If it's alright with you, can we just rest right here? I do need to eat." At his nod, she moved to an alcove in the wall framed by spectacular stalagmites and settled down, lying slightly sideways to put the edge of the parka between her and the cold stone floor. She unsealed one of her saddlebags and drew out a couple of circular flat cakes of dark green material. Forward Ho settled himself down beside her and gave them a curious look. "Pressed lichen." Twilight took a bite and chewed it blissfully. After she swallowed she added, "The caribou make it as trail rations. They cultivate it in sheets on sheltered rocks and trees even in winter, then peel it up and press it flat for easy storage. Sometimes they even put in berries or nuts to add flavour, but it's good on its own too. Are you sure you don't want some?" "No, I'm fine, really." Twilight polished off the first cake, then looked at the second one longingly before putting it back and bringing out a canteen. Washing down the food, she offered it to Forward Ho, who took it in a hoof and put it to his lips. Twilight saw him swallow, but it felt like he'd barely drunk anything when he hoofed it back. They shared a long companionable silence. "I really do want to thank you." Twilight finally said. "You rescued me, and you've been nothing but kind and caring since. Would you like to be friends?" That got the biggest smile she'd seen yet, and another shiver. "Yes! Yes, I would love to be your friend. It's not something I've really ever had before." His expression fell, as if he'd said more than he'd meant to, and she placed a hoof on his shoulder to reassure him. "Oh, don't worry, I was like that once. I was more interested in books than friends when I... lived in Canterlot. I guess you're like I was, totally focused on your work, having colleagues rather than friends?" "Not quite." Forward Ho was clearly having difficulty talking about it, picking his words carefully. "I was always interested in friendship, but none of my fellows were. We were part of a team, I guess, and that was something. As for our... boss... she was the one focused on the job. She wouldn't have understood my desire to do something different." "Goodness, I had no idea that archeological research could be so cut-throat." Twilight felt a distinct twinge at Forward's description. 'Did Spike ever feel that way about me when I got too deep in my studies?' she asked herself. She resolved to apologise to Spike for that if she ever saw him again. "I understand why you decided to go off exploring on your own." "Recent events made me realise I just couldn't live like that anymore. I set off to look for something better, something more. But I needed some time to clear my head, to figure out what to do next." "So you came here." Twilight finished off. "I'm glad you did. Though I'm sorry if I disturbed you." "No! No, I'm very happy to be disturbed, I mean I'm glad you're here, not that I'm happy you were attacked by a yeti or anything, I mean... I don't know what I mean, so I'll just shut up." Twilight actually giggled at his flustered reaction. "Well I know what you mean, and I'm grateful." They fell into silence again as Twilight returned to the question that Foreward's presence brought up. If she had a chance to return to Equestria, should she? Would she? She yawned as she suddenly felt the day's exertions catch up with her. It was something she'd decide on tomorrow. The light from the crystal pillars was fading; the daylight must be waning above, so she cast heating and glow-light spells on a stalagtite overhead. She felt a twinge in her truncated horn, even as the stone spire started to radiate warmth and a soft glow. She'd pushed her magic, or at least her horn, as far as possible today. "Do you mind if we rest here? I feel exhausted. Tomorrow I should really get up out of these caves and try and find my caribou friends. They must be worried about me. I can lend you those journals to read if you're not ready to go to sleep yet." "That would be fine." Foreward Ho settled down beside her, not resting against her but close by. Twilight levitated the journal that had Northern Stars entries on the stories he'd found about the crystal city out of her saddle bag and over to him. Then she rested her head on her forehooves and fell asleep without noticing. &&& Twilight was galloping through the empty hallways of Buckingham palace, which seemed to lead back on themselves in ways that shouldn't have been possible in any well thought out universe. She had to find her friends... there, the doors to the throne room! She slammed the doors open with her telekinesis and ran in. They were all there, Spike, the girls, Cadence and Shining Armour, even Celestia and Luna. She pelted headlong up the hallway carpet to reach them and cried out, "I'm back! Oh my goodness, I'm so glad to see you all!" They all turned to look at her, and Celestia frowned, staring at her sternly. "Who are you?" "It's me, Twilight Sparkle! Surely you remember me!" "A straight haired Pinkie Pie retorted, "Twilight is dead. She died killing the changeling queen. And don't call me Shirley." "No, I wasn't killed, I was just teleported away!" Twilight's joy at seeing them all again was quickly turning into shock and fear at their reaction. "But now I'm back! Just look at me, it's really me!" "It certainly looks like her." Rarity said, suddenly in front of her and using a hoof to hold Twilight's chin as she moved her head side to side for examination. "But it can't be her!" Rainbow yelled, flying in to displace Rarity and staring at her face to face. "Who are you? Are you a spy?" "The answer is obvious." Luna declaimed. "She has the appearance of Twilight, but can not be her. So she must be a changeling!" "A changeling!" "Changeling!" "No good dirty changeling!" The others started taking up the chant, crowding around her, jostling and shaking her from side to side. Twilight found herself both in the middle of the crowd and observing it from outside. To her horror, she saw green flames start to lick around her hooves and travel up her legs, burning away the purple fur to reveal spindly black legs full of holes. Even before the transformation completed she knew that the shape revealed was going to be Queen Chrysalis. She struggleed and tried to escape the press of bodies, tossing and turning, then everything vanished in a flare of green flame. Twilight came awake with a jolt, opening her eyes to the fading flickers of her glow-light spell an afterimage of green flame. However, the shaking hadn't stopped, the ground beneath her was shuddering as if there was a heard of pie crazed buffalo charging down on them. She stumbled to her hooves, looking around frantically for the buffalo. Forward Ho was already awake and hoof stepping in worry. "We have to get out of here!" he exclaimed. "There's some sort of earthquake, the roof could come down!" She didn't waste time agreeing with him, just started trotting out of the alcove. Then she turned and scooped up the journal left on the rocks behind her with her magic, dropping it back in her saddle bags. "Which way is out?" "Follow me!" Forward Ho cantered forward into the darkness sure-hoofedly, almost as if he could see the way ahead. Twilight didn't have his earth pony knack or muscle memory, so she lit her horn up to provide light for them both. They ran along the length of the cavern, the chasm yawning on one side of them, and the floor under-hoof rising up in a shallow slope. As they got further up, there were fewer crystals embedded in the stone walls, and more gaps where crystals once were. At the top end of the cavern, the ground and stalagmites were coated in a layer of windblown snow, including one array of stalagtites that loomed in the darkness like the bared teeth of some great dragon. Forward Ho angled across to the wall of the cavern, and into a wide gap which turned out to be a tunnel leading upwards. Twilight scrambled after him, her hooves barely getting a grip on the snow covered rock under-hoof, but she managed to keep up more or less. She popped out into the open to find herself lying beside Forward on a snow covered plain, dimly lit by the grey vestiges of pre-dawn light filtering through the solid cloud cover and flurries of snow. However, Twilight didn't have the focus to be aware of it as the shaking had stopped, to be replaced by a twisting, wrenching sensation inside her, as if someone was wringing her insides like a used dish rag. It was accompanied by a twinging sensation in her horn, and the taste of tin in her mouth, signs of a powerful release of magical energy. She started retching, but the sensation only lasted a moment, and as it died away, the darkness was banished by a bright light. She pulled herself up and turned to the light, and at first it was as if Celestia had dropped the sun on the plain in front of them, a great half dome of golden light that covered a sixty degree arc of vision, and blew away clouds in a wide ring around it. Then it faded to translucence; within she could see the suggestion of fields and around the centre, blocky regular shapes with a larger spire towering above them in the centre. The dome faded until it vanished into the darkness again, but the structures seemed to remain, and after a moment some of them started showing the twinkle of lights inside, though the central spire remained a dark outline. "What was that?" Forward Ho was shaking his head as if to clear it. "Not an earthquake, that's for sure. Did you see? The shaking hadn't knocked the snow off the stalagmites we passed. I think the sensations were our internal magic reacting to a massive magical effect." Twilight considered the feeling she'd had, her mind working furiously through everything she knew about magical theory. "It's almost like when I first learned to teleport, I felt as if I'd been dragged tail first through a crack in the universe. But this wasn't a linear pull... more like space and time twisting... or untwisting! That's it! Somehow that city was twisted out of normal space and time until just now! The shaking was it trying to push it's way back in, and when it was in place, it twisted into place like a nut on a bolt. We were caught by the edge effect, and felt the dimensional torsion as a torque effect on our astral patterns!" Twilight finished off her explanation with a happy smile, excited to have worked out the reason for the effect. Forward Ho looked at her quizzically. "Okay, if you say so." "I'd have thought you'd be more excited." Twilight said, looking slightly puzzled herself. "Why?" "Don't you see? That's it! The Crystal City of the legends. The one you were trying to find evidence for!" "Oh... Oh! You think that's really it?" Forward Ho asked, wide eyed. "I didn't see what was inside the light clearly." "I definitely saw buildings that had a crystaline look to them, and better yet, it's inhabited! You can see the lights. We should go and look. Just think, a city lost for a thousand years! There must be so much we can learn, ponies to talk to about what happened, maybe even books!" Forward actually backed away at that. "Uh... I don't know if I can meet a lot of new ponies all at once. I... haven't had the best luck with that." Twilight reached forward with a hoof and gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "There was a time I felt something similar, not being sure how to handle meeting new ponies. But I had a good friend beside me, and you do too. Together we'll find out about the city and what happened to it, and when you get back to Equestria, you'll be so famous for discovering it that you can tell that bad boss of yours to go take a hike." Forward still looked uncertain, but he saw the determination in her eyes and straightened up. "You're going to see it?" Twilight nodded, taking her hoof off his shoulder. He stared at her for a moment, then gave a sigh of acceptance. "Then I guess that makes two of us." With that, they started trotting towards the distant lights, together.