Alicornae: The Legend of Starlit Sky
Part IV - Chapter 9: Matricidal Tendencies
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"I'm sorry if I frightened you, but my current state of being can take some time to acclimate to," Flurry Heart said, as Starlit, Sun, and Rainbow Dash had not said a word since she had introduced herself. Starlit shook out some of the confusion in her mind and stepped forward.
"I'm sorry, your majesty, bu—"
Flurry Heart let slip a quick, jovial pearl of laughter before stating, "Starlit Sky, you do not need to call me 'your majesty'. That was my mother's title, one that I have long since divested myself of."
"Well forgive me for saying it," Starlit continued, "but the only other alicorns that we have met have been Princesses of Equestria."
"You've met more?" Flurry asked. "Who, and under what circumstances?"
"The first that I met was Celestia," Sun said, "followed by Twilight Sparkle and Luna."
"You know my Aunt Twilight?" Flurry asked again. "How does she fare?"
"She's your aunt?" Rainbow Dash interjected, having hovered over to join the others. "Also, hi, I'm new to all of this so forgive my tone."
"Believe me, Rainbow Dash, there is a lot that I must catch up on as well. But standing here is not the time or place for such things, in the cold and among the ruins. Please, come with me; I have a fire going and some food as well."
Taking a step aside, Flurry Heart gestured to the beam of light she had walked out of, motioning for them to enter.
"Is that safe?" Sun asked nervously.
"Absolutely. The magic of the Crystal Heart is calm and soothing, crafted to satiate the flesh and comfort the mind."
Starlit and Sun exchanged a quick glance before Rainbow Dash effectively made their decision for them.
"I don't know about you two, but I could use some actual food for once," Rainbow Dash said before flying into the beam. She was soon enveloped by the light, growing into a dim blue shadow before vanishing entirely.
"I promise you, I hold no ill intent towards any of you," Flurry Heart said. "You are the first real company I have had in centuries, and I would be an ungrateful hostess if I were to lie to you. It is perfectly safe."
With a cautious step forward, Starlit put her hoof against the pillar of light and found herself being gently pulled forward, as if being led by a child. The gentle tug drew her over the threshold and she walked forward, fully enveloped in the beam. The cold had banished, replaced instead by a pleasantly warm sensation as she moved further and further down the corridor of light.
As she walked further she noticed that the terminus point ahead of her was growing wider and wider, eventually revealing an opening on the other side. She could see a flicker of blue on the other side, the same as Rainbow Dash's coat, and when she finally came through she saw the pegasus had thrown her coat off and was stretching what limbs she could.
The room Starlit found herself in was pleasantly cozy, made from a rich dark wood and illuminated by a roaring hearth fire. A cast iron pot hung off of a cooking spit over the fire, and a deliciously spicy scent wafted through the air from it. On a far wall was a bookshelf with various tome lain across it, and on the opposite end a staircase the led up to a balcony that overlooked the living room.
Sun and Flurry Heart followed shortly after, a quick burst of cold following them through what Starlit could now see was a perfectly polished mirror held in place by a crystal coated frame.
"This is awesome!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed as she settled gingerly into one of the throw pillows on the floor. "How did you keep all of this safe from the weather?"
"Oh, we aren't really in Equestria right now," Flurry Heart explained. "This space was created through the Crystal Heart's magic, allowing a safe haven in trying times. I'm sorry that it's so small though; like I said, I don't normally have guests."
"This'll do just fine," Starlit replied. "Thank you so much for your hospitality."
With a flick of her horn and some pale blue magic Flurry Heart caused a small dining table, just big enough for the four of them, to grow from the floor with a groan of creaking wood. She then pulled some bowls and spoons from a nearby cabinet and placed them down on the table, followed by pouring out some of her stew from the pot for everypony present.
"Eat, please, you three have been through a horrible experience in the Crystal Wastes," Flurry Heart said as she sat down, gesturing. Rainbow Dash needed no further prompting and quickly dug in, and Starlit found the stew to be quite delicious, if a tad spicy for her tastes.
The meal was mostly made in silence, save the occasional compliment of Flurry Heart's cooking, as everypony present was much more focused on satiating their hunger than trying to converse. It was finally Flurry Heart that got the proverbial stone rolling as she pushed her bowl away with a satisfied sigh.
"So, you are here to kill my mother Cadance, yes?" Flurry Heart stated. "You wouldn't be the first ponies to try to, that much is certain, but you are the first ones to at least make it this far."
"We actually aren't here to kill her," Sun answered. "We just need her to return to Canterlot, take her throne back, and presumably stop the endless winter she has set over this section of Equestria."
"Canterlot yet stands?" Flurry Heart asked. "My, I have been put out of the loop. Last that I had heard the city was a smoking ruin after Twilight and Luna assaulted it to try and dislodge Celestia from it."
"Don't be too certain about that," Starlit said. "The city is still in ruins, but according to Twilight Sparkle the four Princesses need to be there to supply their magic to Equestria, since without that magic the entire nation is dying."
"But Cadance never had a throne in Canterlot," Flurry Heart corrected, sending a shock through Starlit.
"What do you mean she never had a throne there?" Starlit asked. "She was one of the founders of Equestria, she must have had one there."
"She did help found the city, yes, but her throne and her home were always in the Empire," Flurry Heart explained. "She funneled her magic through the Crystal Heart, which then flowed into the Empire itself so that her love and warmth would bless this land. The Royal Family, being Cadance, Prince Shining Armor, and myself, never left the Empire for Canterlot save for diplomatic reasons."
"You keep mentioning that, this Crystal Heart," Rainbow Dash. "Is it something magical?"
"It is probably the very source of magic," Flurry Heart explained. "The Crystal Heart is what the ancient ponies of this land found that gave them their power. The first to be made were the alicorns, and from their power they created pegasi, unicorns, and earth ponies. The Crystal Heart is everything; it is the source of life as we know it."
Starlit could feel her heart racing in her chest, and a quick look around to her companions betrayed their own shattered world views. Starlit always knew, at least a little, that the tale her grandmother had told her was an exaggeration of actual events, but to hear the truth from a reasonably credible source was something else entirely.
"But if the Crystal Heart is the source, then why are the Princesses even necessary for this whole system?" Sun asked, his voice betraying the acceleration of his thoughts. "Why can't we just take the Heart to Canterlot and let it spread magic to Equestria that way?"
"That may have been an option when it was first discovered, but the ancient alicorns split the power of the Heart amongst the most exemplary of their number," Flurry Heart continued. "The Heart of Light, the Heart of Power, the Heart of Love, the Heart of Magic; all of them were formed from the broken pieces of the Crystal Heart long before I was born, even before the ponies you know of as the Princesses were born. It was only when the Three Princesses, Celestia, Luna, and Twilight, were sent from the Empire to settle Equestria that the pieces were separated."
A sudden realization hit Starlit as Flurry continued her explanation, and as she contemplated it further she felt the world start to fade away, replaced only by a single thought; she might have destroyed one of these pieces.
"Starlit?" Sun asked, placing a hoof on her shoulder, "Are you alright? You spaced out there for a second."
"Flurry Heart," Starlit asked, her voice heavy with contrition, "would you mind entertaining a hypothetical for me?"
"Of course," Flurry answered, a patient smile on her face.
"What might happen to one of these pieces if, say, somepony shattered it? Ran it through with a sword and cut in in two, perhaps?"
"The it's magic would cease to be," Flurry Heart replied. "It took ancient magic from the Heart itself to split it safely, but simply shattering a piece would destroy its magic."
A ringing ran through Starlit's ears as Flurry Heart gave the verbal equivalent of a punch to the gut. Her stomach began to feel sick, and she was worried that she might throw up.
"Oh no…" Starlit moaned, staring at the floor. "No, no, no, no…"
"Starlit, what wrong?" Rainbow Dash asked, "Dinner not agreeing with you?"
"I broke one of the pieces of the Crystal Heart," Starlit admitted.
A pall fell over the room, and despite the roaring fire in the hearth Starlit felt as cold as the world outside. The silence was so deafening that it felt like death to her, a sensation that she was all too familiar with.
"You did what?" Flurry Heart asked, her voice shifting to a low, stunned tone.
"In Sunspire, when I confronted Celestia, she challenged me to a fight," Starlit explained, slowly and doing her best to maintain her composure. "She was casting magic out of a crystal floating above her horn, and when I had the opportunity I shattered it. Her whole palace, the illusion she had placed over what was her city, the ever-burning sun; everything vanished when I broke the crystal, and now I think that may have been the Heart of Light."
"Wait…" Sun added, a very similar wave of realization seeming to wash over him, "in New Selene… the light-gas the was used to power everything in the city could've been the Heart of Power. Luna said that it was a crystalline substance from the Empire that she vaporized and pumped into the ground of her city. So much of it has been consumed by the ponies in New Selene that it can't possibly have the same properties that it once did, even if Luna pulled what was left of it out of the ground."
Flurry Heart's expression changed rapidly; first it was of concern, and then to one of panic.
"You said that you were here to bring my mother back to Canterlot, where Celestia and Luna already are," Flurry asked quickly.
"Yes, but what is the point now?" Starlit asked back. "Two halves of the Crystal Heart have been irreparably damaged, and if that is the true source of magic in this world then what hope do the Princesses have to fix this?"
"Because I still have the Heart of Love, and Twilight must still have the Heart of Magic," Flurry continued. "I stole the Heart of Love from Cadance when…"
Flurry quickly cut herself off, turning her face away from the assembled ponies as she took a moment to compose herself.
"When my father, and Twilight Sparkle's brother, Shining Armor died defending the Empire," Flurry finished, wiping a quick tear out of her eye.
"Flurry, I am so sorry," Starlit consoled. "He must've been quite the stallion to give himself for his homeland."
"Love comes in many forms, Starlit Sky," Flurry Heart continued, "but my father's love for his homeland and his people overcame his love of hearth and home, wife and child. He felt that if he wasn't doing everything he could to protect the Empire then he wasn't worthy of the Empire's adulation. My mother did everything she could to convince him to stay, but he left all the same."
Tears began to flow, fresh and fast, from Flurry Heart's eyes, as she continued recounting her tale.
"My mother lost her mind that day, wracked by grief from losing the love of her life and scores of her people all at once, and I feared that her connection to the Heart of Love would corrupt it with her anger, pain, and sadness. I stole it away from her during the siege, throwing it down into a small town on the outer edge of the Empire while Canterlot laid waste to my home and hers."
Flurry took a moment to breathe, regain some of her composure and wipe away her sadness before continuing on.
"I have not seen my mother since that day. I don't know what state she's in or if she even still lives, but if you can subdue her and let me speak some sense into her then maybe you have a chance to remind her of what she once was. Then, and only then, will I let her reconnect to the Heart of Love, once I can prove that she won't corrupt its power."
"But what about the other pieces of the Crystal Heart," Rainbow interjected sheepishly.
"Love is powerful, far more than most give it credit for," Flurry replied. "It can be as gentle as a mother's kiss, or as powerful as a sleet storm. It can burn with the intensity of an inferno, and it can soothe with the warmth of a hearth fire. Love brings out the best and worst in ponies, and I hope the the Heart of Love can remind my mother of her best. After that, it may help to stabilize the country while Twilight helps you with the Heart of Magic."
Starlit looks to Sun and Rainbow Dash; they looked about as shaken as she felt, but both of them gave her a nod of solidarity.
"Then take us to your mother, or as close as we can get to her," Starlit replied, gathering up her things.
* * *
Flurry Heart led Starlit, Sun, and Rainbow Dash our of her mirror and into a bitterly cold plaza of immense size and desolation. All around them were destroyed buildings made of fine crystal, snow drifts that reached above rooftops, and an omnipresent sense of dread that was carried on the howling wind.
"You know, we could have taken a nap back in the cozy, warm room," Rainbow Dash groused as she flapped along beside them.
"We're on a time table now, unfortunately," Starlit answered. "I also would've gone for a nap after a good meal, but this is more important now."
Flurry Heart moved to the front of the group, her hair whipping in the wind as she lit her horn and drew a sigil through the air. It quickly split into three distinct shapes that floated through Starlit, Sun, and Rainbow Dash. As the magic washed over her Starlit could feel the chill from the air abate, and while it was still quite cold it was no longer debilitatingly so.
"This should protect you from the worst of the weather," Flurry Heart explained, "and it will give you a way to signal for me when you've found my mother. Simply say my name and I will hear you."
"Wait, how did you cast that?" Sun asked. "Twilight told us that this whole place was a magical dead zone."
"During the war our most powerful mages put a wall of anti-magic wards around the walls of the Empire, but they wouldn't be particularly useful if everypony in the Empire suddenly found themselves cut off from their magic," Flurry corrected. "All of our society and culture was built around the presence of the Crystal Heart's magic, and to lose it would be to lose our way of life."
"Wouldn't Twilight have known that?" Rainbow Dash asked. "She was the Princess of Magic, after all."
"The Empire's defenses were installed after Twilight, Celestia, and Luna left us, as a safeguard in the event that any of our wayward daughters or their citizens would have reason to turn against us."
"But she explicitly told us that they were put in place by the ancient alicorns, the ones before the Princesses," Sun countered. "She even had a tome in her personal libraries about it."
"We can ask Twilight about all of this when we get back to her," Starlit interjected, before turning back to Flurry Heart. "Right now we have to do our job, which means I need to know two things; where is Cadance, and where is the Astral Conservatory?"
"The Conservatory?" Flurry Heart asked. "Why would you need to know that?"
"Twilight asked us to recover some of her old journals from there, things she had to leave behind when she left the Empire for Equestria," Starlit lied. She felt a knot in her stomach form as she thought about how proficient she was becoming in lying.
"I see; Aunt Twilight was always a bit of a scatterbrain," Flurry replied. "The palace itself is in the center of the Empire; as long as you keep moving away from the walls and towards the opposite side walls you'll find it. Mother will most likely be in the throne room at the peak, or at least that is where I last saw her."
"The Conservatory, on the other hoof, is probably a fair few miles walk from here, on the eastern side of the city," Flurry continued. "You'll likely want to go there before the palace if you intend to; the Conservatory has a domed roof and should have an ancient telescope protruding from the right side if you're approaching from the front."
"You know, you can come with us if you would like," Sun offered. "You know this place better than any of us do, and your magical prowess would definitely come in handy."
"And it is precisely that magical prowess that prevents me from coming along," Flurry countered. "The Crystal Ponies that my mother created from the citizens of the Empire are bound to follow her magic. Since I am her daughter I would be a draw for them, and the centuries of cold and bitterness from my mother have not been kind to them."
"And Agateous?" Sun asked back. "He was a Crystal Pony, and he helped get me out of the tunnels."
"Since I stole the Heart of Love the ponies that have been serving under me haven't been deranged without its influence. Their worship of me as this all-knowing 'matriarch' is a tad troubling, but it is simply their way; the Crystal Ponies need hope and love the way others need food and water."
A gust of wind whipped past the group, sending Flurry Heart's hair askance across her face and nearly throwing Rainbow Dash out of the air. Starlit even felt herself slip a few inches across the icy street. At first Starlit thought that it was just the weather, until she saw the snow in the sky halt. On the wind a hellish neigh blew, and her eyes drew upwards to see a horde of frost ghosts galloping down upon them.
"Go! Run!" Flurry Heart ordered. "I can hold them off, they'll want to follow me anyway!"
With no further prompting Starlit took off, heading for the wall and keeping her compass stone floating in front of her. Sun and Rainbow Dash quickly followed after, and the sound of magic bolts flying was soon drowned out by her own hoofbeats and breath.
Starlit's lungs burned as she ran, and her slowly healing ribs were only making the task more arduous. Every gallop sent shocks of dull pain through her chest, and finally she ran into one of the abandoned homes to catch her breath. Sun and Rainbow Dash were moments behind her, each of them panting from the exertion as well.
"Why are we stopping?" Rainbow asked. "Those things could be right behind us."
"My ribs," Starlit choked out. "I can't run like this, it hurts too much."
"Then what do we do?" Sun asked back. "We're not going to leave you behind."
"I'm just going to slow you down and both of you know it," Starlit countered, holding the stitch in her side. "You two go ahead to the palace, see if there's any way to get in there. I'll make my way to the Observatory on my own and meet you at the Palace."
"Starlit, you won't last out there in your condition!" Sun shot back.
"And if I'm with you and you have to worry about me then we'll all die! At least if I get killed I'll come back! Now go, I'll see you at the palace!"
"What?" Rainbow Dash interjected. "What do you mean if you're killed you'll 'come back'?"
"I'll explain later, but now you two have to leave!" Starlit replied.
Sun looked at Starlit for a long moment, and even behind his snow blind goggles she could see the conflict working its way through his mind. Finally, with a slump of his shoulders he turned to leave.
"Sun, where are you going?" Rainbow asked, confusion slowly turning into anger. "We can't leave her like this!"
"She's right Rainbow," Sun replied. "She'll be fine, that much is certain. We need to make tracks now in case the windigo or its ghosts are behind us."
Rainbow's gaze flitted back and forth between Sun and Starlit, and it made Starlit's stomach twist up in knots.
"Rainbow, I promise you that I will explain this, but right now you need to keep Sun safe," Starlit said, getting her temper back under control.
The invocation of Rainbow Dash's loyalty was all that it took to get her to relent. With a quick flap of her wings to adjust herself she followed Sun out of the ruined building and down the street outside, leaving Starlit to contemplate her injuries.
Starlit sat for a long moment, waiting for the sound of neighing and for the snow to freeze in mid-air, but after waiting almost a half-hour she concluded that Flurry Heart must've done a good job driving them off. Exhaling the sign of relief sent another twist of pain through her chest, but with a bit of effort she stood back up and readjusted her things, ready to start the long, slow walk to the Observatory.
A quick thought flashed across Starlit's mind, and as it settled she pulled Spike's necklace out of her warded saddlebag. If the Empire still had magic then there was not sense in not summoning him now that she was alone. Starlit had a lot to explain to him, after all, and a long walk through the Empire would be as good a time as any.
Focusing her magic into her horn she let a thin beam of dark blue light strike the pendant, and slowly but surely the lines of light that made Spike up coalesced and settled until he was fully manifested.
Spike let out a few quick blinks as he regained consciousness, before exchanging a quick, panicked look between Starlit, the room, and the snowstorm outside.
"Hi Spike," Starlit greeted.
"Hi Starlit," Spike answered nervously. "Where are we, exactly?"
"The Crystal Empire, where I think we're both going to get some answers."
* * *
Sun and Rainbow Dash made a quick but even pace as they wound their way through the frozen and ruined streets. Sun expected every alley and every house to be an elaborate ambush waiting to happen, but nothing happened. The quiet was setting every part of Sun's brain in edge, as he was just waiting for the other horseshoe to drop.
"So, she can be killed,but then she'll just come back to life a few hours later?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"That's about it," Sun answered. He had given Rainbow Dash the basic rundown of Starlit's condition, but saved the grisly details for when Starlit was ready to tell them on her own terms.
"That sounds rough, if I'm being honest about it," Rainbow said. "All of the pain of dying, but none of the release."
"Mm-hm," Sun murmured in response. "I was there when it first happened, and she nearly had a mental breakdown from it."
"Yikes. I don't even know if I'dbe able to handle something like tha—"
Sun stopped in his tracks as a intense, painful thumping erupted from inside of his head, right in the same spot that Silence had been in. It hurt worse than when he had been blown up, and a scream tore from his throat as he fell forward, his forehead coming to rest on the street.
"Sun!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. "What's wrong?! What's happening?!"
"Feels…like…head…being stomped," Sun answered through gritted teeth.
Rainbow's next words came through as fuzz, so intense was the pain in the back of his head, he rolled on the ground, clutched his temples, did anything to try and alleviate the pain as it threatened to crack his skull open.
Then, all at once, it faded away, leaving him only with a soft, familiar pulsing feeling.
"Sun?" Silence asked, her voice nervous.
"Silence?!" Sun answered in his mind.
"As much as I'm happy about this reunion given the circumstances," Silence replied, "I'm afraid that I don't bring good tidings. Events that have been in motion for centuries are coming to their breaking point, and the Princesses are only going to make for a stop-gap. I need you to find me, in the Glowing Waste."
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