Crystal Note groaned when she woke up with a pounding headache. She tried to rub her temples with her hoof but found herself barely able to move under the mountain of blankets somepony had dumped on top of her. Not strong enough to struggle, she just sunk back into the soft bed and closed her eyes, hoping the pounding would stop on its own. At least the bed was warm and cozy.
For a moment, the bed and the pleasant drowsiness was all that filled her mind, then she wondered how she got into a luxurious bed like this and once again, the floodgates opened.
The last day rushed through her mind and with it came memories and impression and dreams, all mixed together into a giant mess inside her head. Now she knew where the headaches came from at least.
She was grateful that the panic of the last day had faded, even though her confusion only grew stronger and stronger inside her. She could barely tell which of the memories were real or not anymore. Was this bed even real? Did she really come back to the Crystal Empire?
Another groan broke out of her, reminding her that the headaches were indeed far too real. She tried to wiggle out from under the blankets but the bed was so soft she could barely move at all without sinking in deeper. With a frustrated spark, she lit up her horn and pushed the blankets away with a glow of turquoise magic. Okay, having magic was real too. That probably meant she was still a crystal unicorn as well.
She rolled to her side and opened her eyes again with a wince. The light hurt for a moment, then she noticed a chair next to her bed. On the chair, a crystal pony with a tannish coat. The mare’s mane had been bound up into a bun, but strands of pink hair stood out of it now. Probably because she had fallen asleep in the chair.
Another wave of memories and another timbre of pounding, and a name. Two, actually. Rose Quartz, Pinky.
As if she had heard her name, the mare snapped awake and stared drowsily. Her eyes needed a moment to take everything in, then she rushed to the side of the bed and reached out for Crystal Note’s hoof.
Rose held it gently and whispered with a question in her voice
“Harmony?”
She blinked at the name and winced softly. That name did something to her, but her confusion didn’t let her figure out what it was.
She closed her eyes again to dim the pounding headache and shook her head carefully. She mumbled as it was the only thing she trusted her voice to do right now
“I’m not sure…”
She opened her eyes again and looked into the worried blue ones hovering in front of her
“I don’t know what’s real anymore…”
The worry in the blue, gem shaped orbs grew and she suddenly felt like crying.
An hour later, Harmony had already learned a few new things. She still remembered how to use a shower. Hot water helped against headaches, but not against confusion. And she didn’t like chamomile tea at all.
Rose Quartz was still with her but hadn’t talked much except the necessary. She wasn’t too sad about that, as her confusion was still growing and by now she doubted she could form any sentence without turning it into complete garble.
She munched cheerlessly on some pastry and washed it down with another sip of hot tea.
The door opened and she knew she’d need to use words again soon. Princess Cadance stepped into the room and closed the door behind her again. She gave a nod to Rose Quartz and smiled softly at her as she sat down on the other side of the small table. Rose poured a cup of tea for the alicorn and with a chime of magic, it floated up for Cadance to take a sip.
Crystal Note couldn’t help but giggle as the cup quickly descended again and the spoon next to it came to live, adding none less than four loadings of sugar into the cup.
The giggle made the smile on Cadance lips grow and some of the worry in her eyes vanished. She went for another sip, then asked
“How are you feeling?”
Crystal Note/Harmony/whoever thought for a moment tried to find the right words to describe what was going on inside her. Her attempt failed, so she shrugged and just said the first thing that made sense
“My head doesn’t hurt as much anymore.”
Cadance gave an unsure smile and nodded
“Well, um, that’s good. You gave us all a scare when you just passed out in the middle of the square last night. How much do you remember?”
She tilted her head and blinked
“Everything is really fuzzy. I’m pretty sure I saw the crystal heart. And there was a lot of light. Then everypony was staring at me. And…”
She blushed and whispered shyly
“Please tell me you didn’t really do a cancan with Shining Armor and the palace guards?”
Next to her, Rose Quartz nearly choked on her tea and Cadance burst into a giggle fit, her wings unfurling in an attempt to keep her from falling over
“Oh dear. I need to tell that one to Auntie Celestia next time I see her. No Crystal Note, I’m afraid you simply passed out at that point. The crystal heart definitely recognized you as a crystal pony. My guess would be it unlocked all your memories and it turned out to be simply too much at once.”
She nodded and blushed more. When both Rose Quartz and the princess had regained their composure, Cadance asked another question
“So, do you remember your past now?”
She thought for a moment and nodded. Then shook her head. Then nodded. Then bumped her head on the table and winced as she left a scratch with her horn.
Rose reached out and gently patted her shoulder and Cadance touched her hoof gently
“I’m sorry Crystal Note. I was certain the crystal heart would help you remember.”
“It did.”
Cadance and Rose froze and she continued
“I remember things but it’s all so messed up. It doesn’t make any sense. It’s like… like…”
She struggled for words and just blurted out
“Like there are at least five ponies inside my head telling me things in different languages and I don’t understand even one of them.”
She started sobbing at the desperation of her own voice and felt Rose slip next to her for a hug. Cadance lifted her hoof up and gently rubbed the back of her head.
After a moment of silence, she whispered
“Is this real? Or is it a dream?”
Cadance gave what she hoped was a reassuring smile and nodded
“It’s real. I promise.”
She smiled, but then said
“That’s what a dream Cadance would say as well, right? It feels nice and I’d like it to be real. But maybe it’s too nice to be true.”
Rose and Cadance exchanged an unsure glance but the crystal unicorn just went on
“Did I really say that or did I just imagine it? I can’t tell the difference anymore.”
“Harmony, stop!”
Rose called out and held her old friend tightly
“This isn’t helping you. You’re only hurting yourself by saying such things.”
She laughed and grinned
“You should tell that to the other ponies. I’m sure most of them will be thrilled to hear that.”
Cadance was shocked beyond words but then the crystal unicorn started to sob and shiver. Rose picked her up from the table and had the mare lean against her. Her head buried into Rose’s shoulder who just held her in the hug.
Cadance stepped around the table and sat beside the two friends, then spread out her wings and gently covered them. The sobbing continued for a while, then more words
“I want to go home. But I don’t know where that is anymore.”
Cadance nodded and whispered
“You will always have a home here, Crystal Note. But maybe you should return for a while at least. Back to Ponyville. Where you won’t be confronted with unsettled memories by everything and everypony you look at.”
Rose Quartz stared up at the princess but Crystal Note nodded
“Okay…”
Rose frowned and then nodded as well
“I’m coming with you, Harmony. I’m not leaving you alone like this.”
Harmony looked up with a sad smile and whispered
“I’m going alone. I’m sorry sis. I just can’t think with you near me right now. I need some time.”
Rose Quartz felt tears running down her cheeks but then nodded
“Promise you’ll come back. Promise you’ll not leave me all by myself again.”
Crystal Note nodded and whispered between tears of her own
“Cross my hear and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.”
Rose Quartz blinked but Cadance giggled softly and patted her back with her wing
“It’s a promise she’ll never ever break.”
Rose nodded and reluctantly let go of her.
Crystal Note sat up and wiped her eyes with a hoof and Cadance motion to the door for Rose Quartz. They left the room with the crystal unicorn and as soon as the door closed, Cadance let out a huge sigh
“That wasn’t what I expected at all.”
Rose just stared at her
“What are we going to do next?”
“Whatever we can do. Hopefully she’ll find some peace of mind in Ponyville. I’ll send somepony to the station to make sure today’s train won’t leave without her. And I’ll send a letter to Twilight to make sure she’s picked up at the station.”
Cadance took another deep breath
“Then I’ll write to Auntie Celestia and Auntie Luna. They don’t know anything about Crystal Note so far, but maybe they know a way to help her.”
Rose Quartz nodded and turned back to the door
“I’ll go get her things from your study, Princess. I’ll stay with her until I know she’s safe on the train. I don’t think I can do more right now.”
She took a step down the hallway, then turned around and wrapped her hooves around the surprised princess
“Thank you for doing all this for my friend. My sister.”
Cadance smiled and returned the hug, giving her friend the moment of closeness she needed right now.
A few hours later, Crystal Note was ready to leave. With her saddlebags on her back and Rose Quartz and Cadance at her side, she walked down the corridor towards the main doors. Again, many ponies noticed them but the glares where gone. The ones who had heard her desperate sobbing and crying looked after the crystal unicorn with open sympathy, other were curious. As far as she could tell, only a single guard darted a look of threatening anger towards her.
They exited through the same door as the night before and Crystal Note felt the crystal heart again as they got closer. It was still a warm chime inside her but this time it felt pleasantly comforting.
The ponies outside of the palace stopped whatever they were doing and watched the three ponies make their way down the palace stairs.
Crystal Note noticed a lot of insecurity in the crystal ponies she passed. She felt a lot of this in herself, but it seemed to bother her immensely to see it on their faces. She couldn’t say why or put it in words, but an idea grew inside her.
When they passed the round plaza with the crystal heart in its centre, she slipped from between Rose Quartz and Cadance and headed straight towards it.
A few ponies called out in surprise and a couple of guards rushed towards her, but she ignored them for now. If she had learned anything in these weeks then it was to trust her instincts and that’s what she did.
Like the last night, she bowed down deeply once she reached the edge of the plaza, her forehead and the tip of her horn gently touching the ground. Then she took a single step into the circle. She concentrated and reached inside. The ponies around her gasped and some even gave shrieks of fear as her horn glowed with her turquoise magic. With an defiant smirk, she opened the biggest of her saddlebags with her magic and levitated her violin and its bow out. The instrument landed safely in her hooves and the glow stopped.
With practiced ease, she put the violin to her chin and brushed the bow gently across the strings. She took a few moments to tune it as the guards didn’t seem to approach her and then started to play.
As soon as her melody was heard, all the ponies fell silent. It started as simple tune but as her bow danced over the strings, the tune grew into a beautiful melody. The crystal ponies forgot all their fear or confusion as they recognized the song. Even though none of them had heard it ever before, they had all felt it at some point.
Crystal Note closed her eyes and focused only on her music, pushing away everything else. In her mind and her heart, she heard and felt the song of the crystal heart once more. She gave herself to the song and let it flow through her hooves and out through her violin.
The song quickly spread out through the silent plaza and lured out more crystal ponies. They stared and listened as the song rose up around them and reached out for them. They watched as the mare who played it started to sparkle in the morning light and her citrine mane flowed along with the motions as she played the song of the crystal heart for them.
After minutes that seemed like hours to the ponies, the song slowed down and finally faded with a last long tone. Crystal Note opened her eyes again and put down the violin.
There was no sound except the clap of her hooves on the ground as she walked back to Cadance and Rose Quartz. Her horn glowed again and the violin floated back into the bag, but this time nopony seemed to care.
The three mares walked passed the dazzled crystal ponies who just stared at the crystal unicorn with wide eyes. Rose Quartz seemed to a little dazed as well as she followed Crystal Note and Cadance towards the station.
When the crystal heart was almost out of sight, Crystal Note turned around one last time to look at it. She bowed and let out a sigh before she turned back and walked on. Behind her, all the crystal ponies snapped out of their awe and started mumbling to each other.
Crystal Note did not notice any of this and kept walking. At some point, she took the blue bandana out of her saddle back and bound it around her head as usual.
The three mares reached the train in silence. Crystal Note bowed before the princess and was pulled into a hug in response. Rose Quartz stared into her eyes for a minute before the same thing happened.
Then, Crystal Note took a last look at the Crystal Empire and what used to be home, and climbed into the waiting train.