//------------------------------// // Ch 24 - Crystal Clear // Story: A Flurry of Problems // by MelodyMori //------------------------------// The difference in temperature between the mines and the Empire itself was like night and day. Thankfully it wasn’t too warm for my hoodie, but it did feel like I somehow stepped into a house with interior heating. Suddenly it made a lot more sense why someone built a city this far north, this heating magic would make it a lot more habitable after all. From Celestia’s back, I couldn’t see much just like no one could see me. Several buildings that looked like they were made of some type of crystal sat on both sides of what I guessed was a residential street. Based on how loud the metal shoes of the guards and Celestia were against the ground, I assumed the road was made out of crystal as well. Up in the distance, a massive spire-like building rose into the pink-tinged sky, nearly reaching the top of the pink dome encompassing the city. It was almost deafeningly quiet, with no sounds of ponies performing their day-to-day errands and tasks. No sounds of animals either, just the wind blowing through the streets and buildings like an eerie howl. The sound of the metal shoes on crystal was the only sound that could be confirmed to be from a sentient creature.  After almost a minute of walking through the empty city, the group stopped as one, one of the guards muttering a curse under his breath. Despite the earlier warning, I poked my head over Celestia’s shoulder, craning my neck to see what caused us to stop. My own heart jumped into my throat as I saw what everyone else did: dozens of Crystal Pony statues. Or what I thought to be statues at first glance, but they were more like normal ponies frozen into a place in time. “Auntie, are those...?” I asked, my voice tinged with concern and fear.  “Those are Crystal Ponies, yes.” Even without seeing her face, I could tell my aunt was scowling in displeasure. “I doubt these are simple statues, so tread carefully.” I bit my lip but cleared my throat, causing Celestia to turn back to look at me. “Can I jump down? If everyone is a statue then nothing should hurt me.” Celestia held her frown but sighed, nuzzling me for a moment. “If you wish you may, but stay close. Whatever did this may still be nearby.” I nodded and went to hop down, my bare hooves making a far softer sound than everyone else’s metal hoof shoes. We continued to head towards the main spire, carefully avoiding all the Crystal Ponies frozen in their day-to-day activities. It was a haunting sight, like somewhere between a wax museum and a snapshot before a disaster. It was probably a good thing that Crystal Pegasi weren’t really a thing, otherwise, quite a few ponies would be hurt falling from the sky. “What could have done this?” I muttered under my breath, my voice far more fearful than I usually would appreciate. “I do not know,” Celestia responded, her hoof on my back jerking me back to reality. “This isn’t petrification but something unique. Please, stay close. I do not want anything happening to you.” [This is all your fault] “What?” I yelped without realizing it, cringing slightly as Celestia raised an eyebrow in confusion. [You were the heir of this Empire, their fate is your fault] “Are you alright?” Celestia moved her hoof from my back to lift my head up, her brow furrowed in concern. “Y-yeah, I’m fine.” I pulled away from her, trying to swallow my panic down. This wasn’t just a one-time thing, whatever was whispering into my head wasn’t stopping. [C’mon Flurry Heart, why don’t you tell her the truth?] I hissed and shook my head, trying to focus my thoughts back in order. I rubbed my head with a hoof as I went to start heading towards the tall spire. “Can we please continue? I’d rather not stand around a bunch of crystal statues.” Celestia nodded and motioned to the guards to continue marching, a frown still creasing her face. I felt my ears flick back in embarrassment and focused on the spire ahead instead of her. I could almost swear the statues felt like they were creeping in, but every time I looked back they were still where they were.  Thankfully the voices stopped during the rest of our trek, allowing me to focus on the walk instead of trying to tune them out. If everyone wasn’t frozen in place for some reason the Crystal Empire would be a beautiful place with all of its crystal buildings. It made every building look almost like an art structure, each piece adding to the bigger whole. “Do you think they’re in there?” I asked, my ears still flicked back in apprehension. “What if they’re also statues?” “Then we will fix everypony ourselves.” Celestia looked down at me and smiled comfortingly. “Do not worry, I am sure that Cadance and Shining Armor are fine.” “If you say so...” I murmured, my ears flicking back upright as I tried to listen carefully in case anyone appeared. Celestia turned to look back up at the spire for a moment, her eyes searching for something. She slowly lowered her head, narrowing her eyes a touch as she did so. Hopefully finding what she was looking for, she turned to the guards waiting for her orders. “Stick close to us, I can feel we are close to the Crystal Heart,” Celestia ordered, her wings flaring authoritatively. The six guards nodded and formed a protective circle around the two of us, eyes roaming the quiet square for any dangers. As one the eight of us headed towards the open base of the spire, towards some kind of glowing heart-shaped crystal. Wow, that is a pretty literal name. Then again I’m not sure what I expected of something called a ‘Crystal Heart’. As we approached the Crystal Heart, Celestia motioned for the guards to step back, taking the lead herself. I quickly followed her, feeling a small tingle radiate through my coat as we crossed the boundary of the spire. I looked up at her with apprehension but either she didn’t seem to have felt it herself or was ignoring it. The Crystal Heart flashed with a bright blue color for a moment, causing Celestia and me to freeze in place for a moment in apprehension. It then flashed brightly enough to blind me while the sound of crackling thunder bounced around me. I hissed and blinked the light away, shaking my head to clear the afterimages from my sight. I looked around and saw that Celestia and the guards were also frozen like statues, a glossy almost crystalline coat over them. The guards looked like they were about to job into combat while Celestia looked horrified at the Crystal Heart. I hesitantly stepped towards my aunt and tapped her, the alicorn not even shifting from where she stood. [Now you have even more blood on your hooves. You should have just let them erase you] “No! SHUT UP!” I yelled, turning around to try to locate the biting voice. Instead, I saw what had to be the one other pony who wasn’t a statue at the moment, another alicorn to be specific. She stood a little taller than Twilight was, but her short stature compared to Celestia and Luna did not diminish her power in the slightest. Her coat was a deep pink, almost a purple with its dark hue. Her mane and tail were a shimmering cascade of dark purple that slowly brightened to pink by the ends. Her eyes were a deep purple that shone with hunger, not for food but for...love? “Oh my daughter, I am so glad you came home!” The unknown alicorn jumped forward, pulling me into a deep hug with her forelegs and wings. “D-daughter?” I stammered, caught completely off guard. I forced myself far enough out of the stronger mare’s hug to stare up at her. “Cadance?” She frowned, her eyes narrowing in displeasure. “It isn’t polite to call your mother by her first name. I will allow it this once, by the look of you, it’s been a while since we’ve seen each other. But from now on I expect good manners, am I understood?” I grit my teeth but nodded, finally being released from the mare’s grip. “What happened Mom? Why is everyone a crystal statue?” I nervously looked at my aunt and her currently frozen, terrified state. “Oh, that’s simple dear.” Cadance spun on a hoof and waved a wing at the Crystal Heart. “I felt somepony close to me disappear, and my heart broke so much I wished for it to never happen again. And somepony spoke to me in my dreams!” She gave an excited grin, wide enough to show that her teeth were replaced with fangs. “He told me how to make sure nopony would ever get hurt or leave me again. I would never be lonely due to somepony...disappearing.” She turned back to me, her eyes focused on me like a laser. “Does that make sense, Flurry?” I nodded, hiding my displeasure with a smile, a skill I learned from having to deal with my human-father. “Yup makes sense! But...wouldn’t that make everyone else sad? What about Auntie Luna? She’ll miss Auntie Celestia!” Cadence shrugged, turning her gaze to Celestia. “I always preferred Celestia to Luna. She raised me like her own niece, you know? Meanwhile, Luna sat on the moon, not sharing her love with anypony. How selfish.” I used the chance to take a step back, my coat on end from dread. Whatever had happened to her drove her crazy, that much was clear. “S-so what now Mom? Are we going to go see Dad?” Cadence frowned and used her magic to pull me close to her again, wrapping me with one wing. “No, I think we will spend some time together instead. Nothing like some good mother-daughter bonding time, right?” I could swear I could see Twilight Sparkle standing behind Cadance, her mouth almost split in half by the wide predatory grin on her face. [See? I told you that you’d feel better as Flurry Heart.] I closed my eyes and roared in fury, my worry furthering the spark of anger into a burning inferno of rage. “Shut up! For the last time I’m not Flurry Heart, I’m Summer Storm!” I could hear Cadance gasp and suddenly felt myself falling. I opened my eyes as my head almost smacked into the ground, barely rolling onto my shoulder in time. I winced at the impact and looked up in surprise, my ears flicking back for a moment in fear at the sheer look of rage on Cadance’s face. Her eyes seemed to bore into my soul with how focused she was on me, her grin turning into a toothy scowl. “What did you say, Flurry?” she growled, her eyes narrowing slightly. I swallowed my fear and stood up on my hooves, my mind made. If I was going to die again, at least I would die being the real me. “My name isn’t Flurry Heart, it’s Summer Storm. I’m sorry but it's true.” “Then where is my baby?” She growled, taking a step towards me. I went to take a step back but her long legs meant she gained more ground than I did. “She is dead,” I stated flatly, unable to give the truth with any rage or fear. Just exhaustion. “She died at the hooves of Twilight Sparkle, who tried to save her from a foalnapping bug-pony but failed.” “A changeling?!” She roared, the air around her cracking with lightning for a moment before it grounded itself against the crystal spire. “If that is true, then you must be a changeling as well. But I can feel the love from you...” Cadence thought for a moment before her horn started to glow. “No. Now that you told the truth I can almost smell the deceit coming from you. How dare you take the form of my baby!” “It wasn’t my choice! Blame Twilight!” I growled, taking a step towards her. “First you say she killed my Flurry Heart, and now you’re saying that she is responsible for that shoddy disguise?” Somehow Cadance’s scowl deepened into sheer loathing and rage. “Maybe I shouldn’t give you the gift of eternal life like everypony else. A creature like you deserves a much more direct and final punishment.” “What?” I blinked, barely having a moment to realize what was happening before the glow from Cadance’s horn turned into a beam that hit me in the chest. I gave a yelp of pain as I could feel my coat singe from the impact, the force sending me flying back. I tried to spread my wings to change my trajectory but I was going too fast for someone of my skill to fix, instead, I crashed into what was right behind me. I felt my head hit the Crystal Heart, and with a cry of pain, for the second time today, everything went white.