//------------------------------// // Distorted Beginnings: Chapter Eight // Story: Distorted Resonance // by Tangent //------------------------------// “No…” Nightmare Moon stared in shock at the short maned unicorn sprawled out next to the wall she had hit. “What have I done?” The unicorn, who had gifted her with that wonderful picture upon her return from the moon, just lay there, motionless. So still. The Yellow and Pink ones appeared at the edge of her tunneling vision. "Pinkie, don't let her move and don't touch her barrel! Her breathing is wrong!" So very very still. "Oh no oh no oh no. Pinkie, I think she has a pierced lung!" “I will end you!” the other white unicorn cried out her rage as she attacked the Alicorn of the Night. Nightmare Moon barely registered the hits as she started moving slowly towards the fallen one. She had meant to give them a challenging defeat. A mighty struggle against impossible odds that might leave them battered and bruised but otherwise hale and hearty. Something to give them a grand tale to tell their future foals, grandfoals, and greatgrandfoals for generations to come. A harsh buck from the Orange one’s rear hooves slid Nightmare Moon across the floor, stance unchanged. Her new position giving better vantage of her victims condition around the two desperately trying to save their friend. The darkness seemed to drain right out of Nightmare Moon as she took another step. The other white unicorn was still striking her viciously. The alicorn let it happen, every blow that landed a mere fraction of the penance she deserved for striking down one of her subjects. Not that it mattered much whether she let it happen or not, as the differences in power and ability between her and these mares were just too great. They were not, could not be, a viable threat to an alicorn of her level at their current capabilities. "I... I don't know what to do!" the Yellow one whimpered. "She definitely has a pierced lung! I... We can't treat her here, but it's not safe to move her either!" "I got..." the Pink one pulled a couple of boxes out of her hair. One of which had a picture of some sort of strip with a smiling face of a clown on it. "Use these!" "I'll do what I can, Pinkie, but she needs more than just bandages and plasters." The efforts of the Yellow and Pink ones would do no good. If the lung was truly pierced then the mare was at her end - an end shared by many valiant ponies who fought by her side in defense of Equestria over the years, all those centuries ago. How had it happened? Sure, the spell she had been blasted with had hurt, but nowhere near as much as it could have. And certainly not enough to have seriously harmed a fully matured alicorn. But in her rage at being affronted so, Nightmare Moon had lashed out, misjudging how much force she put into the kick. Or, really, not measuring the force at all. The Blue one dived at Nightmare Moon, and with a vicious hit and twist to her wing, broke her stance throwing her to the ground. "If you want my friends, you'll have to deal with me first!" How dare!? No! Not again! Nightmare Moon struggled to reign in her temper, lest she lash out and strike down another of her little ponies in her anger. They had a right to be angry, not she. All she had suffered was a moment's pain and a loss of dignity. They were losing a friend. They didn't deserve her. They deserved warm sunny days to spend frolicking in the fields. They deserved a Princess that let them play in the light of day. Not a Princess that was just as dangerous to them as everything else in the dark of the night. What was the point anymore? She may as well just let her sister go and be done with it all. Her magic's resurgence at no longer holding her sister prisoner in the Astral Sea took even the small measure of justice her attackers afflicted away, as it naturally soothed her hurts and ills. And unfairly just in time, as the Purple one unleashed a spell that would have briefly trapped her as she had trapped her sister. Instead it was like suds carried away by a river. She stood, her eyes still seeing only her crime. Even the minor hurts of their fury washing off till her attackers had begun to tire. She took a hesitant step forward, but saw the four blocking her path almost immediately. Again, she had to restrain her irritation at their interference, and for a moment both she and they were at an impasse. At least till the white mare drew power from the ring of energy and allowed the shields to collapse, unleashing a flurry of banners drawn into the room to smother her with, wrapping and twisting around her barrel and neck with a force that would have suffocated a more mortal mare. She'd take it as her due. She had only wanted to give her new subjects an experience to remember for a lifetime. And now one of those subjects lay there, broken under the light of the rising sun. And it was nopony’s fault but hers. She barely even cared as her sister glided through one of the larger windows as if borne upon the sunlight itself. “Luna…” Celestia called out gently as she landed. “I broke her, Sister,” Luna stated bleakly as she continued to stare past her elder sister at the fallen mare, ignoring the banners wrapped so tightly around her (much to Rarity's frustration). “I never meant to hit her that hard.” “I believe you,” Celestia stated sadly, her own grief evident. “She… she gave me a gift when I showed up in your place.” Luna showed the crayon picture she had received to her sister. “You take it - I don’t deserve it.” Luna completely missed the shock that warred with the grief and sadness on her sister's face at seeing the picture. *o O o O o* The attacks by Rarity and the others against the dark alicorn had faltered and then stopped altogether with the arrival of the Princess. Instead, they turned and took the few remaining steps towards their fallen friend, and watched as Rarity gathered Crystal's head into her forelegs and started bawling. Pinkie backed off to give them a little space, feeling conflicted as she turned part of her attention toward the conversation happening between the Princess and the newly named Luna. Rarity was barely aware of Fluttershy raising a hoof timidly and placing it on her shoulder as they watched Crystal take shuddering breaths. Applejack, more familiar with loss than the others, stood vigil, breaking it briefly a moment later to get Rainbow's and Pinkie's attention, eyeing them solemnly till they joined her. "I'm sorry. I don't know how to help her. We've tried..." Fluttershy trailed off. There wasn't a lot she could do even with the few 'adventuring' supplies Pinkie had stashed in her mane. The others shared similar thoughts, though they didn't voice them. A couple because they felt it wouldn't help, a couple because they couldn't find the right words, and one because she was running through every scrap of medical knowledge and magic in her head trying to find something that would spare her new friends their grief and one her life. Applejack stepped back and quietly asked, "Is there anything you can do, Princess? That mare's taken a lot of hurt for us tonight. It don't seem fair that it ends like this." "I am truly sorry, my little ponies, but unfortunately I cannot. Had this happened nearly anywhere else, I could have attempted to teleport to a hospital, or even the Royal Medical Suite in Canterlot, in order to return with a medical team, but not from here. Teleporting with passengers is tricky even under the best conditions, and unfortunately the Everfree Forest is too disruptive to pony magic. I could power through safely enough on my own, and perhaps teleport back with some doctors anyway, but the strain on them would leave them in no condition to provide the medical attention needed. And that same strain would kill her if I teleported with her instead, even if we were not within the Everfree Forest." "There's nothing you can do?" Celestia draped a comforting wing over Applejack's back, pulling the apple farmer to her in the process. "If I could, I would. She has touched lives far further than you than you could know. Her last gift to Luna is proof enough of that." With that, she showed her little ponies the picture the now revealed Crayon Seer had drawn of Luna surrounded by dancing ponies. Ponies that each of them recognized, as they were the ponies shown. Even Twilight was there among the others, cheerfully rendered in colored wax. “She knew,” Rarity’s grief strained voice took on an undertone of wonder as she looked at the drawing. “Somehow, she knew. But the picture is wrong,” her voice cracked bleakly. “It shows Crystal dancing as well. I don’t think I shall ever ‘Celebrate the Night’ ever again…” Luna bowed her head even lower in shame. Lifting her other wing, Celestia beckoned her sister with a gesture and a sad expression, and Luna allowed herself to be gathered as well. "Crystal may have been a might strange," Applejack stopped as Rarity glared at her. "What? It's true! She's always been an odd one. But she was a good mare all the same." "She always stood up for me in the market," Fluttershy added, shuffling a hoof against the floor. "Whenever we were both there that is." "I didn't really know her all that well," Rainbow Dash admitted. "Different circles and all that, what with her being a unicorn and me wanting to fly all the time, y'know? But... I think she was really cool. I wish I had noticed sooner. Aw, buck it! I'm screwing this up!" "You are doing fine, Rainbow," Rarity consoled the blue Pegasus as she stroked her foster sister's head. "Crystal... hasn't has an easy life. She lost her family when she was really young, and the magical incident that stranded her in Ponyville had left her impaired for two years, unable to hold things in her hooves and too clumsy with her mouth to perform fine manipulation. She would practice all the time with those crayons of hers, and kept right on using crayons even after she could use a quill properly. Said quills tasted too bad." "She..." Pinkie sniffed. "I wasn't just a party pony to Crystal. She cared when I was sad, and could always tell when my smiles were fake, and did her best to bring my real smile out. She was my best friend. She's right there, and I already miss her so much!" "I barely knew her at all," Twilight stated. "We had all just met yesterday. She made me feel welcome. You all did. It feels so wrong for her life to be cut short like this, just as we all became friends. We should treasure our friendships, always." By some unknowable signal, Pinkie Pie began singing. It was a wordless tune, full of sorrow, pain, and hope. A Heartsong that was quickly joined first by Rarity, then Fluttershy, followed by Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and finally Twilight Sparkle. After a moment, Celestia and Luna began to sing as well, adding their voices to the wordless melody. And behind them all, forgotten and ignored, the Elements of Harmony began to glow. Also unnoticed by all, the automap crystals Crystal had given them began to resonate with the music. “La-la la la-la-la la-la, la-la la la-la-la~” *o O o O o* "Doc, the map-thingy started up again," Bubbles pointed out as she set down the now unneeded load of Sun Crystals and approached the table where the music was coming from. "Pretty." "Really?" Time Turner replied as he set down his own load. "How odd." Setting down his own load of Sun Crystals, he approached the map display. "Interesting..." Suddenly, the map flickered off, and was replaced with text accompanied by a deep bass six note sequence. HARMONY ONLINE "Well now! This was certainly unexpected!" *o O o O o* One by one, beams of light shot upwards from the five discarded Elements, converging where a sixth one appeared in the air. From there, a rainbow arced high, nearly touching the ceiling before descending to engulf the grieving ponies. Everypony but Rarity had just enough time to turn their heads in surprise as the Harmonic Rainbow washed over them all. Of them all, Rarity had eyes only for her sister, while Luna merely closed hers in resigned acceptance of what would surely be Harmony’s Judgement against her. The swirling rainbow around them faded as fast as it appeared, leaving everypony feeling refreshed, with all of their hurts gone and their fatigue washed away. Silence reigned for a moment, only to be broken by Crystal herself. “Ugh… Can’t breathe! Could everypony please back off? And Rarity, don't you remember what happened last time you held my head like this.” “Crystal!” Rarity cried out in shock. “You’re alive!” “Yeeeeah,” Crystal responded hesitantly as her sister inspected her. “I was the last time I checked.” “'Tis most wondrous!” Luna proclaimed loudly, only to flinch and back off quickly as Rarity glared at her, horn unconsciously flaring as pieces of shredded banner were grabbed. “I… er… I didn’t mean to hurt you so…” “It’s alright,” Crystal waved it off. “Don’t worry about it. I forgive you.” “Crystal! How can you forgive her!?” “Well, she obviously regrets whatever she did.” “She all but killed you! You. Were. Dying!” “I got better!” “You don’t get better from being dead!” “I did!” “You’re impossible!” “Obviously not, considering that I’m right here.” “Oh, I don’t know why I put up with you!” “Because I’m your sister and you love me?” “Well, there is that.” “Oh, look! The hairpins Crystal gave us changed!” Pinkie Pie interjected in an attempt to lighten the mood. She really didn’t want the situation to devolve into an argument and possible violence again. There had been more than enough of that already. It was quickly apparent that nearly everypony’s automap crystals had changed, save the one belonging to Crystal herself, and now resembled their respective Cutie Marks. “Why did they change?” Twilight wondered as she took hers off to inspect it. “Because they have been fused with the Elements of Harmony,” Celestia explained, though her intrigued tone suggested that this was something new to her as well. Only Rarity noticed the twitch that Crystal’s right eye developed upon hearing this bit of news.