Luna blinked and was back in the hallway. Crystal Note stood next to her with her eyes closed. Luna remained silent for a few more minutes before she tried to address the young mare beside her
“I wish I had known of this. If sister and I had realized there was resistance inside the Empire, we would have intervened far sooner. We knew of King Sombra’s rising, but to us it seemed to be out of the will of the ponies. We went for diplomacy when action would have been necessary. I was blind and fell for the obvious lies.”
Crystal Note’s eyes shot open and she stared at the princess
“There was no resistance, only a hoofful of ponies trying what they could to survive. And failing miserably. I couldn’t save Daisy Blossom or her mother. I should have done something, anything, but they died. And not just them. I failed them all.”
Luna shook her head with a bitter laugh
“Is this the young, reckless filly talking to me? The one who charged a troop of soldiers and led them on a wild goose chase? Or are you really so naïve to think you could carry such burden on yourself? Think clearly, Crystal Note. A sole filly could not have prevented a war or stopped an insane unicorn king. My sister and I needed armies to storm his city and even in defeat, it took all crystal ponies, Princess Cadance, Shining Armor, the Elements of Harmony and the dragon Spike who is now called ‘Brave and Glorious’ by your people to banish the lingering traces of the dark king.”
Crystal Note’s eyes fell back on the floor and Luna gently put her hoof on the mare’s shoulder
“I say this not to belittle your efforts, Crystal Note. Far from it, I admire the courage and wit you’ve shown. I’ve seen enough of your memories to know this was only one occasion on which you’ve risked your own life to help the crystal ponies in their needs.”
The crystal unicorn blushed from those words and shook her head
“I could never help them when it really counted. Daisy Blossom died with me standing next to her.”
“And as such, her death, while deplorable and tragic, was a gentle one. Daisy Blossom passed on surrounded by love and beauty. Despite all you had to witness as a filly, you’re too young to realize how important such things are. For her mother, it meant the world to see a smile on her daughter’s face during the last few moments.”
Crystal Note sighed deeply and a small smiled made its way to her face
“Mom was smiling as well, when she… she held Rose Quartz and me so close and then she smiled. I know she was in pain from her illness nearly all the time, but she smiled anyways. Is that what you mean?”
Luna nodded and removed her hoof from Crystal Note’s shoulder
“Indeed it is. Ever since we looked at your memories, you’ve focused nearly exclusively on the happenings with an unfortunate result, most of them were even out of your control for that. Not only is such behaviour unhealthy, it is also not purposeful. While it is recommendable that you try to learn from the past and any mistakes you made, you need to accept the good that you did as well.”
Luna looked up at the glowing orbs of memories again and her horn glowed up brightly. Several of the orbs reacted and images appeared in front of the two ponies.
A group of ponies happily sharing some food provided by Crystal Note and her friends.
Rose Quartz and Crystal Note sneaking through the city at night to collect crystal berries from the bushes outside of town.
The colts and fillies from earlier helping a few injured ponies reach the hideout, Crystal Note carrying one of them on her back.
A group of foals in a dark room, hiding from soldiers and Crystal Note driving their fears away with a soothing song.
A young stallion with a dark blue colt, bringing medicine to Crystal Note and Rose Quartz when their father was sick.
Crystal Note distracting a soldier long enough so a group of ponies can run away, narrowly avoiding a hit from a spear.
A group of crystal ponies, mourning the loss of a loved one, Crystal Note in the middle of them.
When the images started to fade, Luna nodded proudly at the crystal unicorn next to her
“Those are but a few occasions that show who you are. A strong friend for those in need. A light of hope even in dark hours. A part of the community, despite being different. You’ve learned what your parents thought you well, Crystal Note. You show the same kindness and wit your mother possessed, as you act with wisdom and loyalty to your fellow ponies as had your father. And born from those, you have the courage to withstand danger for the sake of others, even to this day. We’ve heard the story of how you saved the filly Apple Bloom even at the expense of being injured. Do not deny these things, Crystal Note, not even out of humility. You have every right to be proud of the good deeds you have done and still do.”
Crystal Note blushed but the smile from earlier returned and grew this time. She looked at the last image of the group of crystal ponies that had gathered around her to console her. A dark thought passed through her mind and the smile faded down as another memory appeared, a far newer one, still painfully clear in her mind.
Rose Quartz backing away from her in fear, other ponies staring at her and even the ponies of the crystal guard deeply afraid and pointing their weapons at her.
Crystal Note sighed deeply and closed her eyes
“It’s so strange. The crystal ponies accepted me after a while, even though I wasn’t one of them. Now, I’ve become a crystal pony myself like I wished so many times, and I’m more distant to them than ever before.”
Luna nodded and dispelled the image with a glow of her horn
“Change is always something that can disturb ponies, no matter what tribe they come from. It takes time for everypony to accept and adept. It took you weeks to accept your magic enough to share its existence with anypony, and even longer to find the courage to start using it.
The last thing your creator said was that you were different from the crystal ponies because you were an earth pony, stronger and sturdier. He claimed you were superior and that they were weak.
You’ve learned this lesson, false as it may be, but you turned it into something good. You were stronger than a crystal pony, but you didn’t use it to rise above the other. Instead you contributed your strength to their community. What you did was of good heart, and they saw it and were grateful, so much that they accepted the earth filly Harmony to be one of them.”
Luna turned to face Crystal Note once more and gave an encouraging smile
“Give them time to learn and accept you once more, Crystal Note. You’ve not lost what you learned as a filly any longer. Show them your magic is used of the same good intend and they shall realize you’ve never stopped being one of them. All it will take is some time.”
Crystal Note almost nodded, but then a deep frown appeared on her face. From behind her, a dark orb of memory, almost black by comparison, floated towards her
“Unless… I give them reasons to doubt me. Like I have before.”
Before Luna could intervene, the black memory crashed into Crystal Note. Immediately, her coat lost all sparkle and her colours changed to a dark grey. Luna could hear a soft whimper, then the light surrounded them again as they dived into another memory.