The city was full of a new life. Banners flew high from many rooves. Voices were raised to join them as crystal ponies sang their anthem, smiles on their faces. A cloud over the populace was drawing back, allowing a peek at the vibrant people underneath.
"It's been so long." An older mare was busy trying her best to assemble a basket. "I used to be a fair hoof at this when I was a young thing. I could use a replacement basket. Poor thing from back then's showing about as much wear as the rest of me." She laughed at her humor, clearly in good cheer.
Not debilitated, Shining Armor clashed wildly with Rainbow Dash to the roaring cheers and stomps of the watching crowd. That crowd was a blend of crystal and normal ponies as many visiting guards were in attendance to watch one of their bosses engage in the duel. Both of the fighters were in great spirit, and soon others wanted to join in the fun. Surely running at one another couldn't be that hard, right?
Applejack proudly offered up steaming treats. "Step right up!" The part that confused her was there no bits were exchanging hooves. It was all just for fun, all of it. Which meant she was trying to sell, for nothing. "Tease yer tastebuds. Just take a smell." The crystal berries did smell quite nice, baked into treats. She snagged a cookie herself and chomped into it with an appreciative mmm. Which was enough to draw a curious pony over to join her.
Pinkie danced and pronked down the roads, playing her flugelhorn proudly. By proudly, of course, we mean loudly, but the noise of it was mostly consumed by the noise of the crowd. It was just the thing to fit into the festival, and few ultimately complained about it.
Fluttershy, not caught up in jousting matches she didn't want to be in, gladly served as the interface between the shy ponies and the uncertain ewes, bringing them together to enjoy one another's fluffiness.
A filly squealed with joy as a ewe grabbed her and the two began to wrestle and play to the delight of both parties. Soon other ponies began to play along, petting and admiring the little lambs as Fluttershy provided commentary about their habits and how to care for them properly.
But that was all a warmup. Cadance set the crystal heart with her magic right on its spot on the podium even as flashes in the audience came and went. The ponies were having such a good time, they were awakening to their true selves, even if only a moment. Whatever they were doing, it was working. "And this should be the final touch." She patted the recovered crystal.
"Ooo." A crowd of crystal ponies jostled and peeked at the heart, now displayed. Several more began to shine brilliantly, the mere sight of the artifact enough to stir their own hearts to wild activity.
Cadance suddenly winced. A strange new pain flared up, and she couldn't even tell where from. It was... like her entire body was suddenly too close to a fire. But neither Shining nor Umbra should have been playing with fire. "Hm..."
Shining flinched mid-charge, which got him thumped with Rainbow's lance. He lost that round, but his mind was more on why it felt like he was burning. "Uh, time out." He tapped a leg against the opposing hoof in the traditional signal and dashed off to try to find an answer.
Elsewhere, a pony was not overseeing the basketweaving station she had set up. She hissed softly, but didn't cry or call out. She was enduring the burning pain, waiting for it to pass, like many other discomforts she had experienced before. She was also hiding in a small utility shed. "They're having fun..." She could hear the festivities and joy through the door. She didn't want to be in the middle of that, looking sour. It was her job to help people be exactly that cheerful. It was working. She just wasn't... part of it.
"Umbra?" Shining was wandering past. "Where are you? Are you alright?"
He wouldn't find her. He was going the wrong way. But his call told her that he was feeling it too. He'd be confused and worried. If she just hid, it wouldn't help...
She nudged the door open and peeked out. "Over here." Her voice was even more gravely than usual and she blushed at it, withdrawing into her safe dark place.
"Umbra?" Shining was at the door of the shed in almost no time at all. "What's going on?" His snoot poked in through the door. "It's dark in here. Want me to... fix that?"
"No." Umbra shook herself out a little. "The dark helps, I think."
He slipped inside, knocking the door shut with a parting kick. "Then dark it is." With the door closed, things did become darker. Not pitch dark by any measure, but gloomier. "I don't feel better."
"I do..." Umbra sank to her belly. "Must just be a... you know... mental thing." A safe little dark place, where she wouldn't be attacked. It felt nicer, which made her feel better about the pain she was enduring.
"Then it counts." He sank to his haunches next to her. "Now what happened? Did you get burned?"
"No... I... don't really know." She sat up, though her eyes were closed. "It feels... Well, you can feel it. It just started happening. The louder the crowd got, the worse it got."
Shining set a hoof on Umbra's back, petting her gently. "You're not alone."
A single little sniffle escaped the darkness. She was used to dealing with pain, but it was rare that someone just... accepted they were part of it. "Thank you."
He leaned in and thumped the side of his head against hers. "Part of that is literal. Cadance and I are with you. This isn't fun."
"Oh." Her ears pinned. "I'm really sorry." Sharing her pain was something she had long ago learned was not something one did. Nobody wanted to know another's pain, not really. Talking about it was a good way to turn them away. "How do I stop it?"
"Mystery of the month." He gently stroked her closer side. "But, for now, relax. It feels a little better now that you're calming down." His presence was soothing her, and with it, the shared pain was ebbing a little. "How'd the basket weaving go?"
Umbra let out a choked laugh at that. "It was fun, really." Well, until the pain got too much, but she didn't mention that part. "They were so happy, putting them together... I made one." She drew out a small basket, barely larger than her hoof in diameter. "Isn't it cute?"
In the gloom, Shining couldn't really make out what color it was. "Nice." It was well put together, he could see that at least. He saw worse examples of it while looking for Umbra. "I want to sit here until you feel better, but Cadance is going to need me soon."
"Huh? Yeah, no, go." Umbra shoved against him. "Don't make her wait." Not for Umbra's sake, so far she saw it. "I'll be alright."
"I'll come back." Shining rose to his hooves. "She'll be happy to know I found you." And he was gone, galloping off to head to Cadance's side.
Which left Umbra alone, which is what she wanted at that moment. "Barely here and already messing things up," she groaned, holding her head between her hooves. "Get it together!" She forced herself upright. "I'm supposed to be there too."
She willed the door open and emerged into the bright light of day, even if it made her squint against it. She could see the festival had only grown in intensity since her ducking out of it. Ponies were smiling and playing and they were... shiny? A lot of them were shinier than they had been. Their colors were brighter, their gemstone like eyes were glittering. It was a glorious day.
And she wasn't feeling it. But she forced a smile anyway and did her best to fit in as she started a brisk trot towards where the crystal was waiting. She wouldn't keep them waiting if she could help it.
Umbra began to run into an increasingly dense crowd. They were all gathering for something, probably what she needed to be there for. As the density grew and grew and her progress slowed, she grumbled softly and tried to fade to shadow. Surely that would be faster to get--Oh. The smoldering flames inside her flared to a brilliant life and all she knew was pain for the moment it took for her to fade back into flesh. Shadow was not an option.
Cadance grimaced behind a smile that she kept up thanks to coaching from her aunt, Celestia. "Thank you all for coming. Today is a wondrous day, full of joy and remembrance." She gestured at the heart that sat calmly on the pedastal. "It is almost time. But I wanted to, oh, there they are." She pointed to the figure of Umbra trying to get through the crowd. "Please, let them through." The crowd parted at her command. "This is Umbra, the defeater of Sombra. Reclaimer of the Crystal Heart." She gestured back at the heart.
The crowd began to give collective Ooos and Ahhs, their eyes following as Umbra strode past them to join Cadance. She turned around and nodded at the crowd, but didn't say anything.
Cadance gently nudged against Umbra. "Go on. Say hello to the ponies of the Crystal Empire."
"Oh," she grumbled quietly, gathering her courage. "Hey!" Umbra waved, trying for a slow aristocratic wave, like a queen would do it. "Nice to meet you all."
Despite her discomfort, the crowd reacted well to her greeting, cheering and stomping eagerly. "But now it is time." Cadance gestured at the heart. "For you all to focus your love and joy on the crystal heart." They had learned it should amplify and echo those feelings. It was how the Crystal Empire was a beacon of such joy for the world.
The ponies began to drop to their knees, heads lowering, the ground glittering in powerful lines that wove out in complex patterns. The crystal lifted into the air, an inert thing no more. It began to spin slowly in place, but that pace accelerated by the moment.
And Umbra's world was pain. Her teeth had set, and she tried her best to keep a passive expression. It would pass. It would... pass. She wouldn't ruin that precious moment. It was far more important than her moment of discomfort. Something bumped into her. Cadance set a leg over Umbra, holding her firmly. Without word, she had come. Of course, the princess did feel that pain too, but Umbra had forgotten that, distracted as she was.
A wave of power thrust out, but none of the three linked ponies could observe it. They were elsewhere, in a strange crystalline nothing. They stood there, somehow in a perfectly even triangle that had no real dimensions. With a loud gasp, Cadance became brilliant crystals, transparent in part, shining brilliantly with a power she did not have, but did, just never manifested so directly. The line that connected them began to glow, working towards Shining Armor and Umbra, the dark black line becoming shining crystal, working towards them.
Shining Armor had no fear of the approaching power from Cadance, but his eyes were on the other line, the one approaching Umbra, who quaked with a terror she could not hide. He thrust a hoof towards the mare, his own line towards her starting to glow brightly, building from him and working towards her, racing Cadance's power. One was crystalline doom, the other, the light rose of his shielding magic, racing towards the trembling Umbra.
But time was subjective there. Despite what felt like a delay in their start, they all reached their point at the exact same instant. Shining flared to brilliant light, form becoming engulfed in the crystalline power of the heart.
Umbra roared. She wasn't trying to, but there was little other word that matched the great noise that came from her, roaring with force to shake the non-land around them.
But they weren't there anymore. Umbra stood before a crowd of ponies that had managed to become even more crystalline than they began, transparent and joyous. The burning had stopped, and everything was pink? She reached out and ran a hoof over the bubble that surrounded both her and Cadance. "What the?"
Shining's horn stopped glowing as the bubble came down with a sigh of relief. "You two alright?" He was striding towards the two mares with a happy smile. "I wasn't sure if I would make it."
The crowd was abuzz with chatter, admiring their crystal forms, returned, or newly given. Cadance backed to the side, looking at Umbra. "Look at you."
"Hm?" But then a mirror floated in front of Umbra. "Oh." She was crystal, like the others, but also not. Her crystalline form was filled with smoke that roiled and flowed within her form, as if the crystal skin was the only thing holding her in place. As if... she would fly apart if not for that skin. "Oh..." She shuddered softly, imagining that, just... coming apart. "Oh..."
Cadance shook her head softly. "These things do not happen randomly. I refuse to accept that." She set a hoof on her crystal chest. "The heart gave you both things you need."
Umbra's vision focused on Shining. "You are... this skin. You held me together. Thank you. Thank you! Oh man, not good at this." She danced in place. "But thank you, seriously. We are so even." She turned towards Cadance. "And I'm not even trying to be... salty, but what is your part of this? The heart was ready to blast me apart, he held me together, I... get that." She cringed at the vision. "What did you do?"
Cadance didn't look terribly affronted, that gentle smile of hers not fading. "For one, without me, there would be no Shining Armor, nor a crystal heart to begin with. We are a unit." That got her a Shining, their noses meeting in a warm nuzzle of unmistakable love. "For two... he may have shaped it, talented stallion he is, but I like to think the crystal itself?" She reached out and tapped in soft tinks against Umbra's crystalline form. "That was me."
Umbra colored softly, a thing she could do even as a smoke crystal, swirls and eddy of her blush flowing through her body. "I am just gonna admit it." The two looked at her. "What? Super jealous. You two are the real deal. I never saw... two people this tight if it wasn't like the honeymoon rush or whatever they call it."
Shining laughed at that, turning towards the crowd. "I feel that way every day I first see my Cadie."
"I'll gladly ditto that." She moved to his side, facing the crowd. "I declare this crystal fair a complete success," she boomed with the royal Canterlot voice. "Thank you all." Some began to disperse, to get to their business, or to enjoy the festival while it was there. Either way, the great collective power given to the heart was done, with it spinning brilliantly without them.
Hooves struck the crystal, stone to stone. "What's with the smoked look?" Rainbow inclined her head at Umbra. "Kinda cool, but also kinda creepy."
The others of the Mane 6 arrived to join in fascination at what had happened to their new friend. Twilight advanced to the fore, nose to nose with Umbra. "Now that this situation is complete, I declare you to be my next project." Her eyes were wandering over Umbra, taking her all in. "I have so many questions, and I think you do too."
"Yeah..." Umbra took a half step back. "But I'm not a test subject."
Twilight inclined her head. "Isn't that exactly what you are?"
That got her a ribbing from Rarity. "Darling! Don't be gauche about it. You are a pony. We will respect that, won't we?" She was facing Twilight in a challenging way.
"Hm? Oh!" Twilight bobbed her head. "Of course." She rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "This crystal state should fade in time. I am curious to see if you also revert."
"What's the alternative?" Umbra's slit eyes contracted. "Just the crystal goes away?"
"Well, yes, a possibility." Twilight nodded along as if that wasn't an existential situation. "We don't know. Watching and monitoring is the only way to be sure."
Cadance suddenly brushed Twilight back. "Which is why Umbra will stay with us, in sight, until that happens."
Shining took up the space next to Cadance with a nod. "Yeah, sorry Twili, but you're stuck with us for now. We're not leaving Umbra alone until we're sure she's safe."
Twilight nodded, not looking upset at the news. "That shouldn't get in the way of things." A scroll and quill appeared with her magic, using one to make marks on the other. "What we can learn from this." She sat down, facing all three of them as she doodled her thoughts busily.
Umbra reached out and poked Twilight, just to do it again, harder. "Huh..."
"Something wrong?" Shining watched Umbra's outstretched hoof. "Don't be mad at Twili, she's just excited."
"Not that." Umbra pointed back at her side. "Go on, poke me. Cadance, tell me if you can feel it."
Cadance raised a brow. "You heard her. Poke." Not that she had any idea why this request was being made.
Shining was not one to deny, chuckling as he reached out to boop the side of Umbra's crystal form. "I didn't feel anything." Which was normal. Feelings didn't echo back on the source. It was perhaps for the best.
Cadance's raised brow fell, joining the other in a frown. "I could feel your hoof doing the poke, but I felt nothing being poked. Umbra, are you alright?"
"I really don't know." Umbra was fidgeting on her hooves. "I can't feel anything. It's... Well, I am in a crystal bubble, aren't I? How am I even talking?!" But she was talking. She could see and hear. But she couldn't touch. Well, aside from the echoes of touches that Cadance or Shining Armor did. She could feel those. "This is super messed up."
Applejack inclined her head. "Jus' a little. Uh, gonna leave this right to Twilight to puzzle out. This is well outside mah specialty, ya know? Ya need a pony to talk to though, ah'm here."
The other girls joined in similar statements of support but also helplessness. Nobody there really knew what was going on. Twilight was eager to document and maybe learn something in the process.
Fluttershy started away. "I should get the ewes back to their parents. They're so eager to see their little ones." And she was gone to get the crystal animals back together.
Pinkie jumped forward. "I saw something that was kinda funny and I think Twilight would wanna hear, and maybe you?"
Umbra inclined an ear at the bubbly crystal pony. "But maybe not? Uh... thanks for not just blurting it, I guess, but go ahead?"
"Okey!" She looked much happier with permission given. "Just before the crystal did its fwoosh thing, I was watching you." She was pointing at Umbra. "And you were glowing from the inside out like you were, um... Like a balloon full of confetti and the confetti was coming out." She paused a moment. "Except the confetti was light."
Umbra cringed at the mental image. She had literally been coming apart. "That explains the... sensation..."
Shining joined in that wince. "Glad we stopped you from... exploding?"
"Exploding is the worst," agreed Pinkie as if exploding was a thing she had much experience with. "Good thing you didn't do that, huh?" She inclined her head left and right. "Because I still need to throw a party for you, and it's hard to enjoy parties when you're all kersploded. You said small parties? You sure you don't want a big party? The ponies are gonna want to be there now!"
Umbra chuckled nervously. "Fluttershy, back me up." But Fluttershy was already gone, off to handle ewes.
Fortunately, Applejack was there to throw herself in the way. "Pinkie, small. Ah bet she'd like a little shindig with us, an' them." She pointed at Cadance and Shining. "That sound alright, sugar cube?"
"Yes... Thank you... Hold... those thoughts though." She extended her smoke filled but crystalline tongue. "Can I even taste right now? Not sure..."
Pinkie's eyes went wide. "You won't taste my cake? This is an emergency." She grabbed Twilight with her hooves, shaking her. "Fix her, now!"
Twilight shoved Pinkie back to her haunches. "I will do the best I can, but that isn't likely to happen today." She turned to Cadance. "Do you have a laboratory at hoof?" Cadance's blank blink was answer enough. "Didn't hurt to ask. I'll have to improvise... And I know exactly the pony that can help." All of the other mares looked to her as she pointed to Pinkie. "How do you feel about helping advance science?"
"With honor!" She saluted, dusting off the labcoat she hadn't been wearing before, but sure was at that point. "Lab assistant Pie, reporting for duty."
"Excellent, let's begin." She started to lead Pinkie away, only to pause. "That includes you."
Umbra saw Twilight was looking at her. "Oh! Uh, sure?" She glanced aside at the royal couple. "You two coming along?"
Shining started forward. "Of course we are."
"If anypony can figure this out." Cadance was moving to join the line. "Twilight would be the one. I have confidence in her."
"We're behind you, Twili." Shining chuckled softly. "Literally. Go on."
And so it was that Twilight led the procession to begin trying to get to the bottom of things.
Rarity watched them go. "Well, I suppose that means the rest of us are on break until they're done. I have my talents, but science is not really one of them, dears."
"Ain't gonna argue that none." She pulled out a plate with a slice of pie on it. "Ya get to try a bit of the crystal cherry pie? It really is pretty darn good."
"If you tempt me."
Rainbow snorted as Rarity got to sampling. "Yeah, not gonna sit here. The weather around here's a bit nuts. Gonna beat it into shape while we're here." And she was gone in a streak of rainbows.
Spike was enjoying just watching Rarity be, well, Rarity, but... "I should help Twilight. Pinkie may have a few tricks, but she doesn't know how to be a #1 assistant." And off he dashed, vanishing into the castle to catch up with the others.
Rarity chuckled at the sight. "What a dear thing. For Twilight, he'd move the world."
Applejack snorted as she tucked the pie away. "Like he wouldn't fer you?"
"It's different." Rarity waved the idea away. "They are siblings, and it really shows. I should know."
"Ah got a sister too," defended Applejack. "And ah brother too!"
"A fine brother you have, dear." Rarity nodded in agreement. "Your mother--" She cut herself right off, pivoting right on that word. "That pie really was scrumptious! You outdid yourself."
"Thanks." Applejack accepted the swerve away from the painful topic. She glanced away and back. "Rare? Can we talk?"
"Hm? Whatever about?"
"They're gonna be a while." she angled her head at the castle they were beside. "Jus' got me thinkin'... What's it like, being a grown pony, with yer parents right there? Jus'... thought I'd ask, ya know?"
"I don't know," admitted Rarity. "But that certainly sounds like something worth finding out. I would be honored to discuss it with you." She offered a hoof, and the two moved off to have a chat in privacy.