//------------------------------// // 2 - Audience // Story: Reflections // by RQK //------------------------------// Twilight Sparkle sat as tall as she possibly could in her position atop the dais. Mi Amore Cadenza sat right beside her, albeit on the throne itself, looking at the same spot Twilight did. Cadance’s throne consisted of several gigantic, crystalline gems, including one which towered over the rest of the throne. The two somehow appeared untouchable under its protection. A carpet led its way down the ramp and stretched all the way to the ornate double doors on the far side of the chamber. Shining Armor stood at the halfway point. The mysterious mare, Crystal Faire, stood at the center of attention. Gone was her cloak, as it was folded away in some room somewhere. Crystal easily stood a hoof or two taller than Cadance herself. Her coat, whilst containing a few mismatched frays, looked just like any other. Her tail was neatly curled and contoured just like her mane. Shining circled about as he eyed every inch of her. He leaned in close to examine specific marks on her body, especially the strange, crystalline tree which served as her cutie mark. Several guards, armed with spears and clad in full sets of armor, ringed around the two and watched in silence. And Crystal stared into the distance with a glazed expression. After a moment, Shining looked up at Twilight and Cadance and nodded gravely. Twilight and Cadance exchanged glances and then returned the gesture. “Well,” Cadance began, “you seem real enough. And I guess we should thank you for protecting Flurry Heart from… whoever they were. But you must understand…” “You’re impossible,” Twilight finished. “You really are.” Crystal snorted and cracked her neck. “Yes, I am. To the uninitiated, anyway.” “Excuse me? Uninitiated?” Twilight asked. “Yes. I am sure you have many questions. I have all the time in the world, so I will answer almost any question you may have.” “Okay then,” Cadance said. “For starters—” “But first…” Crystal interrupted, raising a hoof into the air. “I want to make this interesting for me as well. So…” She stroked her muzzle for a moment and then smirked. “Let’s do this: when you want to ask a question, just raise your hoof. Then I will answer it.” Cadance looked down from the throne with her eyebrow raised. She exchanged uncertain glances with Shining, and then she shifted in her seat. “That’s… Uh… That’s a strange request.” It was, but Twilight wanted answers. “I don’t see why not,” she said. “I mean, I agree, but it can’t hurt.” “You think so?” Cadance asked, looking over. “Yes. Let’s go with it.” “Alright then,” Cadance said, nodding, “I guess we’ll do that.” Shining Armor raised a hoof. Crystal looked back at him and pointed. “You want to know who I am and where I come from,” she said. Shining blinked and then nodded. “Yeah… that was my question.” Crystal rolled her eyes. “I would suppose that’s the golden question. Very well.” She unfurled her gigantic wings and stood at her full height. “My name is Crystal Faire, but your reality knows me as Flurry Heart. You may call me that if you wish. And I…” she said, cracking a smirk, “am from an alternate reality.” The throne room remained silent for many moments. All eyes, including those of the guards, turned to stare at her. “A-alternate reality?” Cadance asked. Crystal nodded. “Yes. An alternate reality, though one much like this one. An alternate timeline, if you want.” She turned to Twilight. “I am sure that you have some experience with such concepts. As I can see, you romped through time with Starlight Glimmer here just recently, didn’t you?” Twilight blinked. First the Crystal Heart, now this. “Yes… that’s right. You know of that?” “Of course I do. Don’t worry, your adventure through time is fairly typical of a Flurry Heart timeline.” Twilight stroked her chin. Typical of a Flurry Heart timeline, huh? Shining, his brow furrowed in uncertainty, raised his hoof, lowered it, then raised it again. Crystal turned to him. “I’m sure you want to know what my reality was like, right?” she asked. Shining, after spending a moment looking at her curiously, nodded. “Yes, tell us,” Cadance added. “I’d also like to hear about it.” Crystal frowned. “Well, there isn’t too much to tell. I did say that it was much like this one. But I never broke the Crystal Heart there. That’s the only difference which I may tell you about.” “But there are similarities,” Cadance said. “Yes. And there always are. Constants and variables and all that.” “Is that so?” Cadance asked. She then raised a hoof. “Example?” Crystal replied. “Well, I exist in every timeline. Well—” she shrugged, “—in some way, shape, or form.” “Sounds interesting,” Shining said. He paused to stroke his chin. “Wait, are you sure about that?” he asked with a quiver in his voice. Crystal rolled her eyes. “From what I’ve seen—and I’ve seen a lot—yeah. I’m sure. Like I said, I might be a Princess Prism or a Queen Skyla over in those other places. Or I’m dead. Or I don’t make it to birth. Still...” I wonder… Twilight thought, are there timelines different from ours that still give us Flurry Heart? Twilight raised her hoof into the air. Crystal pointed at her. “Yes, Twilight Sparkle. Being named Flurry Heart is a high probability whenever the Crystal Heart is destroyed. But, as to how things get there, there are any number of ways in which that can happen.” Twilight raised an eyebrow. Crystal sat with a smug smirk on her muzzle. That… was a good guess, Twilight thought. She knew what my question was going to be. She’s known what all of our questions were going to be. “That’s interesting,” Cadance said. “I’m guessing that, if you know all that, you probably know why we,” she paused to laugh, “named her Flurry Heart.” Crystal nodded. “I do.” Right. But that all depends on that one event, Twilight thought. But she just said that they don’t always get there the same way. So… does Starlight Glimmer…? Twilight raised her hoof again. Crystal chuckled. “And yes, Twilight. Sometimes, you do not travel through time with Starlight Glimmer, and yet a Flurry Heart may happen regardless. Just the same like Starlight Glimmer may happen, but she never breaks the Crystal Heart.” Her smile grew wider and she said, “Time converges in some ways, and it diverges in many others.” Twilight shot to her hooves. There was no way that had been a lucky guess. Knowing privy information was one thing, but this mare knew her thoughts. Cadance looked over in alarm. Shining, meanwhile, continued staring holes into the mare in front of him. Words, all which tried to explain how, became lodged in Twilight’s throat. Crystal tilted her head and chuckled. “You seem perplexed, Twilight.” Twilight’s heart beat within her chest, and as she cautiously stepped down the ramp leading from the throne, her eyes remained glued on the mare at the bottom. Yet even with the most intense stare that she could muster, Crystal remained unfazed. The guards parted to let Twilight into the circle. “Y-you know…” Twilight stammered, shuffling up to within inches of Crystal’s muzzle, “you… know everything we’re about to ask. Even before we ask it.” Crystal’s grin grew wider. “I want to know how,” Twilight continued. “Tell me.” Crystal chuckled again. The air beside her head flashed, and a wine glass, halfway filled with cognac, appeared beside her. She eyed the contents as she sloshed it about. “Well, you see, Twilight, one doesn’t travel the multiverse for as long as I have without… picking up a few things. And it is true that I’ve seen these situations a million times. I know how these dice fall. But…” She looked back up at Twilight and said, “I’ll let you in on a little secret.” She leaned in close and whispered, “I can see everything. Past, present, and future. …Would you like to know your future, Twilight Sparkle?” Twilight felt like a pinprick underneath Crystal’s gaze. Her eyes remained locked with the mare across from her. The mare, who was supposedly her niece, now glared back at her with a devilish sneer. Her glare, punctuated by the scar across her right eye, nearly pressed Twilight into the floor. A shiver ran up and down Twilight’s spine, and she shook her head. “I-I’m not sure if I’m c-comfortable with that.” Crystal snorted and took a sip from her glass. “I see. I don’t expect you to be,” she said as she swished the cognac some more. She tilted it as if offering it to Twilight, hummed when Twilight failed to respond, and then made it disappear with a bit of magic. Words, which had been dancing about Twilight’s mind, came forth. “I want to know… Why are you here?” Cadance stood up and trotted down the ramp. “Yes, Crystal Faire… what brings you here?” Crystal licked her lips and then trotted over to the windows, admiring the morning sunbeams that filtered through. Her hoofsteps echoed throughout the audience chamber all the while. Everypony, guards included, followed her with their eyes. “Well, as I said… I am from an alternate timeline. I travel across time and space.” Crystal spun around to face them. “And it is no accident that I have come to you today.” Crystal stepped forward. “You see, I am on a mission. I travel across the multiverse, to timelines like this one and beyond, to… intervene. I ensure good futures, and I prevent bad ones. As you have certainly seen by now, there are any number of entities and horrors that would like to bring harm to Equestria, her ponies, and all others here and beyond who lead peaceful lives. “And so…” Crystal Faire said, standing as a silhouette in the sun’s rays, “I am here to save your world.” Twilight, Shining, and Cadance froze in place. Bits of wide-eyed expression flashed across the guards’ otherwise stoic faces. “Save our world?” Twilight croaked. “We… need saving?” Crystal nodded. “Yes.” Cadance swallowed and stepped forward. “What… could we possibly need saving from?” “Any number of things. It could have been Tirek, or it could have been Starlight. It could be the Storm King ransacking Seaquestria. Or it could be the collapse of the Griffon Kingdom. It’s different every time. But you…” Crystal continued while pointing at each of them, “had a double-whammy. Two threats, one right after another. Although I am sure they would have butted heads later. Still… “You were on track to lose to one or both of them.” A sly smile appeared on her muzzle as she said, “Thankfully, I am here to rebalance the terms.” Twilight shuddered. “Y-you mean, we would have… lost?” Her knees gave out and she fell to her haunches. “I don’t…” Cadance stamped her hoof. “That’s ridiculous. I don’t believe that.” “That’s right,” Shining Armor seconded. “Whatever it was that they were planning to do with Flurry Heart, I know we would have gone after them and made them give her back.” “Y… yes! We’d fix everything!” Twilight exclaimed. Crystal’s gaze turned toward the high, arching ceiling. She considered the long banners hanging just above the throne as well as the several smaller ones lining the length of the room. And she sighed. “With the guards doing training exercises outside the castle, they would have been quick, and they would have been decisive. Do you remember this dagger?” she asked with a plain tone as she made one appear out of thin air. “This dagger… was their plan.” All color rushed out of Cadance’s face, and she too fell to her haunches. Shining wobbled in place and grasped at his chest. “But, appearing as I did,” Crystal said as she made the dagger disappear before eying them again, “and preventing the worst as I did, I have, ultimately, put all of their plans to ruin.” Shining swallowed and locked eyes with Cadance. “I’m going to her,” he said at last. He broke into a sprint toward the other end of the chamber without even checking for his wife’s response. A pair of crystal guards opened a set of double doors at the end of the chamber. Shining Armor disappeared around a corner, presumably thundering toward the nursery. Cadance turned her attention back to Crystal and stood back up. “I…” Twilight wiped some drops of sweat off her brow and looked up. “Who is they?” she asked. “Oh,” Crystal said, “you know. They… are not important. Not now, at least. That just leaves the other thing…” Twilight stared at the mare for a few instants before climbing to her hooves. “You… said there were two of them.” “Yes,” Crystal replied. “I did. And there are. But, for now, I would suggest you take a moment to pull yourself together.” She leaned forward with her brow arched. “I would suspect that this is a lot to take in, hmmm?” Another drop of sweat ran down Twilight’s muzzle, and she shook her head. “No. N-no. Whatever is going to threaten us… or threaten Equestria… I have to… I have to…” “Relax, Auntie Twilight. You still have several hours before you should worry about it.” “If this is something that’s about to happen, then I need to go stop it right now! I need to prepare!” A smile twitched across Crystal’s muzzle, and she shook her head. “Oh… You are very predictable. You see, I could tell you and you would run off and do just that. But, in this case, it’s better to wait. I already know how this pans out because I’ve panned it out a thousand times before.” Twilight’s lip quivered as she searched for words to say. None came to her. Crystal looked out the window again. “So, I will tell you what… I will return this afternoon to talk more about what’s next.” She smiled. “That should give you all day to pick yourself back up. And it will give me some time to sightsee and the like.” Cadance trotted up beside Twilight but said nothing. Crystal turned her gaze to Cadance. “Any objections to that, Mother?” Cadance stood with her mouth wide open. She stood there for a long moment, staring Crystal down. Finally, she vacantly shook her head. With one last soft smile, Crystal lit her horn. “Then I will see you later,” she said. And with a white flash, she disappeared. And both Twilight and Cadance remained, staring at the spot in silence. * * * Twilight and Cadance opened the doors to the nursery and stumbled through. They found Shining cradling Flurry Heart right beside the bed. He looked up as they ambled over to him, and he offered Flurry up just in time for Cadance to take her with her magic. “Meem,” Flurry Heart cooed and reached up toward Cadance’s muzzle. Cadance’s face grew wetter by the second. Even as Flurry continued cooing at her, looking up with starry eyes full of wonder, Cadance could only stare. And then Cadance swept Flurry into a tight embrace and sobbed. “Ohhhhhh, my daughter…” “How can this be…?” Twilight croaked. “I don’t…” Shining stood up. “That mare…” he said, his lip quivering, “it can’t be… her. It just can’t be her.” “I never would have guessed…” Cadance continued, trying to breathe through her tears, “I never would have wished… that our daughter would grow up to be… that…” “That scar on her face…” Shining mumbled. His muzzle twitched, and then he locked eyes with Cadance. And both their eyes, followed by Twilight’s, drew down toward Flurry’s clean, luscious, and vibrant face. And Flurry Heart reached up at them, cooing all the while. “Ohhhhhhh,” Cadance whimpered and hugged Flurry tight again. “Maam?” Flurry warbled. Shining massaged his brow. “I really don’t know what to think. I can’t imagine that mare being my daughter.” Twilight looked over, frowning. “She’s not what I imagine either. I… I’ve thought about what she’d be like when she’s all grown up, but…” “She… said she came from someplace else,” Shining continued. “She isn’t… our daughter.” Cadance grimaced. “But she is. In a way. If we believe what she says, anyway.” Twilight held herself and ground her teeth together. “She knew about my journey through time with Starlight.” “And she knew about the Crystal Heart. She knew who was there.” “She knew what we were going to say and do even before we did ourselves.” “And here she is saying she’s from the future… and that she can see the future…” Cadance sighed. “I think she might be the real deal.” “And it’s not like I haven’t seen this thing before; I’ve met my future self before.” Twilight paused. “I mean, it was only a week into the future, but still.” “Then, if Crystal Faire… or Flurry Heart, or whatever she wants us to call her…” Shining said. Twilight straightened up. “If she’s really here to do what she says she’s here to do… and her intentions are good…” She shrugged. “Maybe we should give her a chance?” Cadance sat stroking Flurry Heart’s back for a few moments. She took in a deep breath and used her hoof to push it back out. “Well… she put on an impressive display… but I’m not sure if I trust her.” “Me either. Even if she is our daughter from some… other reality.” Shining’s muzzle twitched, and he shook his head. “At the same time, if she is our daughter… then I would want to trust her all the way.” “She says she wants to save us,” Twilight said. “Let’s hope she means it.” Cadance smiled. “I’m sure you’ll be plenty helpful there, Twilight. You always are.” Twilight blushed but said nothing. Shining stood up. “If you’re willing to go along with it, then I am too.” “Me three,” Cadance added. Shining grunted in order to grab Cadance’s attention. He then took Flurry and held her close. “Meanwhile, we shouldn’t let Flurry out of our sight,” he said. “Just to be safe.” “We still have all day before she says she’ll come back,” Twilight said. “Why don’t we spend it together?” “Sure. And then you and Crystal Faire can go to work on… whatever it is tonight when she gets back from who knows where.” Shining sighed. “This won’t be as stress-free as I would have liked your visit to be, but we’ll make do.” Twilight cracked a much-needed smile. “Yes. We will.”