The insensate filly lay in bed, wrapped in a profusion of thick, fluffy comforters and surrounded by carts bearing trays filled with a plethora of sweet treats and teas courtesy of an entirely distraught Varnish.
While the mare had distracted herself from her worry by baking hoards of cookie confections, Merlot had immediately taken it upon himself to rush out in search of a doctor.
Even now the quiet, stoic faced earth pony hovered over Olive’s impromptu sickbay, a gleaming stethoscope clenched between his jaws and pressed to her chest as he listened intently to her breathing and heartbeat.
The medical professional grunted to himself as he packed away his instruments. “Well, ‘s near ‘s I can tell, the lass is fine. Physically speakin’, at least. Wha’ was it ya said did this again?” He glanced up curiously from his large bag packed with vials, bottles and needles.
“We are not entirely sure, doctor. It seems she collapsed after breaking some furniture.” He gestured with a hoof to the mistreated vanity, whose shattered glass trinkets had long since been cleaned away.
The stallion clicked his tongue against his teeth contemplatively. “Hmm, well I checked ‘er for any visible injuries, but there weren’t any ta speak of. If’n I had ta guess, I’d say t’was probably stress.”
“It has been a very busy week for the girls,” Crux commented offhandedly, rubbing his chin with a hoof.
“Yep, stress’ll catch ya unawares like that if yer not payin’ careful attention.” Tapping a hoof against the handle of his bag, his gaze turned to Olive sympathetically. “All I can recommend is ta let ‘er sleep it off. She’ll wake up when she’s ready, but make sure she’s in bed fer at least the rest of today.”
Crux nodded appreciatively. “ I shall make certain of it doctor, thank you for your time. Merlot, my butler will have your payment.”
With an appreciative tip of his redonned fedora, the stallion grabbed his bag in his teeth before stepping out of the room, the door closing behind him soon afterward with a soft click; the handle swathed in a green aura.
With a sigh, the noble ran a hoof through his mane, collapsing into a chair. Massaging the base of his horn to fight off a rising headache, he glanced out of the open veranda in an attempt to lighten his mood with a glimpse of the surrounding city soaking in bright sunshine.
“Why’d you lie to the doctor?”
A dull, aching pulse throbbed through his forehead as he inhaled deeply; a futile effort to siphon patience from the surrounding aether.
“I didn’t lie,” he grumbled. “I simply neglected to give him the entire story.”
“Same thing,” Silver muttered sullenly.
“And what would you have rather me told him?,” the irate stallion snapped. “Oh, doctor! I’m glad you’ve arrived. Please, these girls found and tampered with a dangerous magical object that left one unconscious after a violent conniption! Can you help?”
An oppressive silence descended on the room, broken only intermittently by brief staccatos of birdsong from the open window.
“I - I apologize. I hadn’t meant to snap like that, Silver.”
The filly pulled her protective shell of blankets tighter around her withers. Her eyes studiously avoided those of her apologetic guardian. “Whatever.”
Their space once more going quiet, Crux bit his lip and shut his eyes, silently congratulating himself on another job well ruined.
His self deprecating revelry was not to be, however, as the sounds of sniffling and muffled sobs graced his ears with the harshness of a slap across the muzzle. A wince flashed across his features as a particularly loud sob reached his notice.
“Of course she’d be crying. She’s just watched her sister in all but blood suffer through a near seizure and the only comfort she has received have been my pathetic ‘attempts’.”
Crux stared sadly at the shaking ball of covers.
“She probably blames herself.”
His own physical pain set aside in light of Silver’s obvious emotional ones, the young stallion extricated himself from his chair and moved over to the filly’s shelter. The bedframe gave a faint creak as his extra weight settled across the mattress.
Feeling exceedingly awkward, he gave the pile a rough approximation of a soothing pat.
He felt the flinch in response to his touch through the woven barrier and a small glow of satisfaction lit his mind as his efforts were rewarded with the sight of a pair of ears and a silver ponytail poking out of a gap in the blankets.
“What are you doing?” the filly mumbled thickly, giving a small sniff.
Crux squared his shoulders confidently. “Comforting you.”
Silver eyed him dubiously through puffy, red lids.
“Is it working?” he asked hesitantly.
A slow shake of her head was enough to deflate him where he sat.
“Mm, well I can’t exactly say I’m surprised. I never did spend much time gaining experience with such things.”
The pegasus scoffed as she wiped her eyes with the back of her hoof. “Why would you try to make me feel better anyways? It’s not like I deserve it, what with Olive layin’ there hur-”
“Now that’s enough of that.” He cut her off quickly with a rough shake of his head.
Crux glanced briefly at the green filly lying in bed. “You may not have ended up as the one bedridden, but from what I understand Olive participated equally in this ill-thought out venture and is just as much to blame for the results as you are.”
“It was foolhardy, yes, but the two of you came out of it...relatively unscathed. What’s done is done and I’ll not have you beating yourself up over this.”
Silver’s mouth sprung open with a fresh retort but was silenced by a piercing emerald glare. Giving a sullen huff, her eyes dropped to the floor.
“And as for why I would bother, well...you’re my family now. And correct me if I’m wrong but taking care of one’s family is what the head of the house does. Isn’t it?” With a hoof rubbing at his chin thoughtfully he muttered the question to himself as an aside, but the keen ears of a foal miss little.
“Isn’t it? You say that like you don’t have any idea how a father’s s’posed to act.”
The lord turned away from the filly’s searching gaze, his eyes roaming out the window toward the shining rooftops and puffing smokestacks.
“Honestly, Silver, I don’t.” Silver watched the stallion’s hooves rub together agitatedly, his brow furrowing.
“I spent nearly the entirety of my young life in this estate. I never interacted much with ponies other than the staff.”
“I went to public school for a time but, as you can no doubt guess, many ponies had the same reaction to me that you did. I was shunned and tormented for my appearance. This horn has done me very few favors.”
He bared his teeth in a bitter, crooked grin and tapped a hoof against his crystalline horn. The sound of a distant chime ringing filled the filly’s ears.
“After one too many such occasions my parents had me home schooled. Mother took up that duty, since Father was presiding lord at the time and his duties kept him very well buried in his work.”
“Eventually I needed no more schooling, yet I still saw so little of him what with the Tyrant’s assaults against the past Empire consuming the time of much of the ruling class.”
Crux seemed to notice his busy hooves for the first time and gave an empty laugh.
“Ironic that in my attempts to become closer to him, I had less time in which to do so. Now I find myself in need of him, of what he knew. How to trade fairly and still make a profit, how to deal with annoyances like Lady Torc and her ilk...how to care for children and ease their suffering.”
Silver stared as the pony seemed to fold in on himself.
“And yet reality does naught but remind me at every turn that he is gone. I buried him and my mother myself in a cemetery not an hour’s ride by coach from here. There were so many things I needed to ask him, to tell him.”
A hoof reached up to grasp at emerald eyes. “I didn’t even get to say goodbye, for Maker’s sake.”
He sighed heavily as he turned to Silver, the pegasus eyeing him in surprise.
“Then what should I receive in his final words, but a letter detailing a surprise addition to my suddenly empty house. Or should I say two.”
“So no, Silver, I have no idea how to be a father. I don’t know what to do now that I have a family of my own. It doesn’t help matters that I can barely look at you girls without stumbling over myself like an imbecile, either.”
“You’re not that bad, really.” the filly mumbled, a small smirk on her muzzle.
“I’ve been avoiding you two like the plague! You tried to bring me my tea with Varnish a few days ago. I panicked and slammed the door so hard in your faces I rattled the windows!”
An unexpected, yet not entirely unwelcome smirk wormed its way onto his face as Silver gave a small, helpless giggle.
“Y-yeah,” Silver snorted. “Or what about dinner two nights ago? You looked like Nightmare Moon had popped up in your face when Olive tried to give you a hug.”
Crux groaned. “Don’t remind me. I was terrified, and now Olive won’t get within a few feet of me.”
“You did kinda freeze up like you’d stayed out in the woods too long.” Silver smothered her giggling in a hoofful of comforter.
“That I did,” he chuckled weakly.
Taking a deep breath to still her mirth, the filly looked over at her her sister. “Don’t hold it against her. Olive’s just really touchy-feely like that. She’d probably like it if you could give her one sometime.”
“She’s having alotta fun with school and your library, Merlot’s really cool even if his accent is horrible and Varnish makes the best cookies. So I know she’s grateful.”
Silver ducked her head down shyly, fiddling nervously with a few of her pinions. “We both are, even if I don’t act like it.”
“Well, I can understand your reluctance. You’re a little hesitant to open up with me, much like I am with you two. What do you say we both simply try our best to open up as much as we can, even if it takes time?”
He gave an uncertain chuckle, running a hoof through his ruffled mane. “I must admit, I’m still uncertain as to whether I could accept being called dad yet.”
“Yeah, me too. Callin’ you dad I mean, not me being called dad. Not that I wouldn't want to eventually. But be a mother, I mean, not a father! Cadance knows I could do it better than mine. I mean-”
Silver groaned and flopped back on the mattress in defeat as Crux laughed.
The stallion’s chuckling faded a he took on a more sympathetic tone.
“Would you like to talk about it?”
Bed sheets rustled dryly as she shook her head. “No, not yet. I don’t really wanna remember them.”
He nodded slowly. “I see. I understand, though I know from experience that talking about it can help. Perhaps one day, when we might trust each other more?” His magic levitated two cookies from a nearby platter loaded with Varnish’s get-well wishes.
Silver’s face was slowly lit by a warm smile as she clutched the proffered treat in her pinions. “I’d like that, Mr. Crux. We’ll seal the deal with cookies of peace!”
They punctuated her decree with a generous bite, eating the cookies whole in one motion.
The white flag of truce was ruffled however by the filly’s surprised and disappointed whine. Crux’s mouth being filled with confection, he settled for raising an eyebrow curiously.
“Peashe tashtes like raishins!”
Giving a final slow chew and swallowing, he glanced at the platter of confections. “Do you not like oatmeal raisin?”
“Thoshe are old pony cookiesh!” The filly flapped her hooves in distress as she grudgingly finished the baked bad. “Nopony likes raisins!”
“I like oatmeal raisin!,” the stallion huffed petulantly.
“Yeah, that figures.” Silver giggled, rolling her eyes as she poured a glass of water from the bedside table.
Crux crossed his forelegs, a stern, furrowed brow warring with a crooked smile. “And just what exactly are you implying, young lady?”
“She’s insinuating that you’re a stuffy old pony trapped in a younger stallion’s body.”
“Olive!” Both ponies leaped from the bed to the side of the groggy filly rubbing her eyes with her hooves.
“You’re awake,” Silver squealed. “Are you feeling alright, do you need anythin’?”
The unicorn grumbled something unintelligible as she waved a hoof toward the pegasus.
“Whazzat?”
“I need my glasses, I can’t see without my glasses.” She blinked owlishly for emphasis, her hazel eyes seeming almost cartoonishly small without her customary lenses magnifying them out of proportion.
“Olive, my dear. I’m glad you are once more among the wakeful.” Crux chuckled as Olive slipped on her glasses, smiling warmly if sleepily from her recumbent position.
“Yes, I’m awake now. I had the strangest dream, though. Curious.”
“Strange? How strange?” Crux sat down next to the fillies on the edge of the bed as Olive took a deep breath.
“I dreamt that I could hear Miss Sable arguing with somepony. He sounded really angry when she started talking about you and Mister Aurol.”
“About Father and I?” He rubbed his chin, his brow cinched in contemplation.
She nodded as well as she could with Silver gripping her head in a crushing hug. “Indeed, they were also talking about the Crystal Heart and he kept calling it his heart. There was also something about a baby’s cradle, I think.” She frowned, puzzled.
“A cradle?” Crux tilted his head to the side curiously.
“Yes, Miss Sable said she was going to seal it off so he- Sombra!” The filly shouted in surprise, throwing her smiling parasite off in her haste to sit up.
“Uncle? What of him?”
“He was the one Miss Sable was-what?”
An incredulous cry came from down on the carpeted floor. “Uncle?”
Crux clicked his tongue. “Ah, that’s right. I never did tell you girls, did I?”
“Sombra was your uncle?,” Silver asked incredulously as she dragged herself off the floor, her eyes wide.
Olive turned pages feverishly in a book that appeared to have materialised in her hooves. “That wasn’t in my studies of your family history,” she muttered.
“Yes, he is. What, you didn’t recognize the family resemblance?” The noble smirked before his lips curled in a vicious snarl and he growled menacingly.
“Crysstals!” he shouted.
Both fillies shrieked in terror. Silver dove under the covers as Olive whacked him in the horn with her heavy text.
“Ow!”
“Sorry!,” Olive whimpered.
“Ha! Serves you right!,” came a muffled huff.
Crux rubbed at his horn tenderly, flinching as the nerves in his forehead alerted him to his previously forgotten condition.
“I’d forgotten about that headache…”
“Sorry!,” Olive cried again, hiding her face behind The Crux Family, A History.
“Where’d you learn to make your voice rumble and hiss like that?” Silver peeked carefully over the edge of her hidey hole.
“It’s genetic,” the lord mumbled, cracking his eyes open as the pain dulled to tolerable levels.
“The rumble and amplification is just a spell any unicorn of acceptable talent can replicate. I believe a new princess in Equestria does much the same. The hissing however, is something my mother used to do on occasion when she was angered.”
“Whoa...so that means Sombra is our great-uncle?,” Silver asked, wide-eyed.
Olive nodded, tapping her glasses. “That seems to be the logical assumption.”
“Would have been your great uncle. Sombra has been long buried in all but name and memory. Best left that way as well, believe you me. I know a few older lords who could curl your hooves with stories from before the Passing*.”
A loud knock on the door interrupted their talk as they turned to see a well-groomed green mane poking its head through the door.
“Ah, young master. Forgive me, s’il vous plait but we heard your shout and became just the smallest bit concerned, oui? Madame Varnish may have had flashbacks.”
Crux winced. “Ah, my apologies Merlot. I was just teasing the girls a bit. Please, tell Varnish that it was my fault, there is nothing to worry about.”
“Oui, young master. I also have more to tell you however, you have a letter from Monsieur Godric.”
“Godric?” He blinked.
“Oui. Would you like me to leave it in your study?”
He nodded, holding his head. “That sounds agreeable, Merlot, thank you. Oh, and could you have tea sent up. With painkillers as well.”
The butler nodded, closing the door with barely a sound and rushing off to the kitchens.
“Well, if that letter is from Godric it must be important. He rarely ever writes, you know; he prefers to visit.”
“That sounds interesting. If you will be doing that, I suppose it wouldn’t be too much to ask for me to see that crystal disc again? No touching of course, I learned my lesson. Just observing.”
Crux put a firm hoof on her chest as she went to rise from bed, pressing her down into the mattress.
“No, there will be none of that, Olive. You’re to stay in bed and rest for at least another day. Doctor’s orders, I’m afraid,” He smirked.
“In the meantime,” he continued, ignoring Olive’s look of crushing disappointment. “That disc is staying where I put it until I find out what to do with it, and more importantly, where you girls will never find it.”
“Is that a challenge?,” Silver smirked.
Crux snorted. “No, that’s an order. No snooping.” He wagged a hoof in front of them.
The pegasus huffed as Olive nodded, contrite.
“I’ll see you girls at dinner.” He made to shift off of the bed before a small, green hoof grabbed his coattail.
“Wait, if I am to be confined to bed, how will I go to dinner?,” Olive asked.
Crux blinked in surprise before his brow furrowed. “Ah, yes. That is a problem. I’ll just have Varnish serve dinner here in your room.”
“Will you eat here with us?”
Silver and Olive stared at him imploringly as he hesitated.
“I’ll make sure not to try and hug you again,” Olive promised, holding a hoof in the air in solemn vow.
The fillies gasped as he hesitated again only briefly before pulling them into an awkward hug, nuzzling their manes with his chin. Shocked, Silver could only numbly return the surprise show of affection as Olive squealed quietly,hugging enthusiastically.
“I would love to join you girls for dinner.”
Crux held them for a time before a sudden sniff interrupted the moment.
They turned to see a teary-eyed Varnish wiping her eyes on a hoofkerchief as she pushed a cart filled with tea and another plate of steaming cookies.
“Ain’t that just tha most heartwarmin’ thing I’ve ever seen.”
The ponies broke the hug immediately, Crux and Silver rubbing their necks awkwardly as the stallion stepped forward, making to exit the room.
“Erm, yes well. Thank you for bringing the girls refreshments Varnish, but try not to spoil their dinner if you would. Speaking of which, we’ll all be taking dinner here in the girls room, since Olive is confined to bed.”
“Sure thing, sir. I’ll have everythin’ set up for tha three o’ ya.”
Crux nodded as Varnish began passing out cups of tea, Olive blowing on hers and taking dainty sips.
“Cookies, huh?,” Silver drawled, eyeing the treats suspiciously.
“Yep, fresh outta the oven, dumplin’.”
“They wouldn’t be...oatmeal raisin, would they?” The pegasus seemed to hiss the dreaded fallacy’s name.
“Um...no. They’re chocolate chip. Why’re ya askin’?”
“Oh, nothin’ really. I just don’t wanna eat any more old pony cookies.”
An aggrieved shout echoed back from the hallway.
“They’re not old pony cookies!”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Crux sighed in relief as he took a sip of his tea. If there was one thing he could say about this new era over that of the pre-Passing, it was that their advancements in medication were astounding.
While he basked in the feeling of a narcotically eased cranium, he spun the sealed envelope in his magic, eyeing it curiously. Merlot had told him earlier that a pegasus had arrived carrying the letter in his saddlebags and had stayed only long enough to ensure that Crux would receive it immediately before rushing off again.
“Uncle Godric never was one to write letters.”
The paper crinkled as a thin blade of magic cut under the wax seal and unfolded the hoofwritten parchment.
“I wonder what could be so important as to warrant a note and have him not meet me in person.”
Dear Jet,
I hope this letter finds you well.
I must apologize for the sudden arrival of this letter by courier, but I needed a way to ensure this letter would make it to you untampered with.
“Untampered?” Crux snorted, as he scanned the page. “He makes it seem as if someone would be trying to intercept his letters.”
I was enjoying a nice read of this new book my son’s been interested in, Daring Do I believe, a rather interesting tale by all accounts. But I digress.
I was reading earlier this morning when an old trinket of mine given to me by your parents suddenly flashed bright enough to nearly blind me. An old crystal disc. I assume by now you know what I’m talking about, so I’ll skip to the heart of the matter.
Have you listened to your disc? You should, before anything else happens. I’ve recently had a break-in here in my house, of all things. And yet, not a single thing was out of place except in my office.
It was positively ransacked, my table overturned, bookcases cleared, and even my antique collection. All of it demolished. They hadn’t taken the disc, so I assume the bunglers didn’t know what exactly it is they were looking for.
Jet, I’ll make this as clear as I can. Somepony is looking for these discs. There have been rumors spreading among the lords of similar break-ins and Torc, Jasper and the other troublemakers have been speaking with one of the contemporary lords. A Lord Calister, I believe. I’ll be honest, I don’t like what I’ve seen of them, they’re planning something or my name’s not Lord Godric Spinel.
Listen to your disc and then join me at my estate as soon as you can. I need to give you this one as well, hopefully before my home is ransacked yet again.
I’ll be awaiting your arrival.
Uncle Gaudy
Crux set the letter down on his desk, rubbing a hoof against his chin. Somepony had tried to steal Godric’s disc. And on top of that, there were more of the damnable things and his parents had given one of them to Uncle Godric?
He’d been curious as to what, exactly, the disc was supposed to do but he’d been hesitant after seeing what it had done to Olive.
Though now it seemed, he had little choice. Godric was requesting that he arrive as soon as possible to receive a second disc after ‘listening’ to his own.
His eyes roamed to a large globe set on a rotating stand surrounded by padded chairs.
The wheeled desk chair squeaking as his weight left it, he strode over to the globe and stared intently at its painstakingly etched and painted surface.
A wavering green light lit the walls as his horn flared. Coalescing into a point in front of him, the telekinetic force pressed lightly against the carved country of the Crystal Empire.
With a barely audible click, the lacquered wood depressed into the globe. The sound of whirring clockwork mechanisms emanated from the hollow structure as it popped open at its equator, revealing the crystal disc placed delicately on a cushion along with a few other precious objects.
As the disc was enveloped in a smoky green aura and pulled from its hidden confines it gave off a bright pulse of light, as if in response to his touch.
Returning to his chair, Crux stared contemplatively at the disc. It’s reflective edges inscribed with glowing runes that gave off a rainbow sheen of energy. It made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up as his horn seemed to resonate in time with the pulses of light.
Steeling himself, the stallion pressed the tip of his horn to the disc. His eyes slammed shut as an explosion of sound and light erupted behind his eyelids.
“Sable! What are you doing?!”
--
“The weakling would have let the Cradle fester!”
--
“...betray your own brother for that crystal pony and his half-breed bastard?!”
--
“I will do what I must, Sombra.”
Crux’s eyes snapped open as he sucked in a breath. His heart hammered wildly behind his ribcage as he shakily pulled himself up into a sitting position. It seemed that while he was ‘listening’ he’d fallen out of his chair and wound up on the floor.
Scattered remnants of the visions ran through his mind at a rapid pace. The warm, comforting memory of his mother’s voice played counterpart to the growling, vicious rumble of what he now realized was the voice of his infamous uncle.
“So mother sealed this ‘Cradle’ off from Sombra’s influence, hmm? And it was the original resting place of the Crystal Heart. This raises more questions than it answers. What did Mother do to sever his connection with this Cradle and how did it affect him. And where was Father during all of this?”
His thoughts whorled around in his skull, dancing from one tangent to the next and how it all related to this Cradle. He now knew the origins of the Crystal Heart, but the disc answered little aside from that.
In one such line of thinking he remembered that Princess Cadance had used the Heart to defeat Sombra. If it were a part of the Cradle which strengthened him, how could it have been used against him? Was it because he’d been ‘cut-off’ so to speak?
“Perhaps Godric’s crystal will give me more to work with.”
Wiping a forelimb across his sweaty forehead, Crux grasped the crystal disc lying on the desktop in his wavering aura and wobbled unsteadily over to the globe, placing it back in its resting place and closing the hidden compartment with a click and the soft whir of clockwork gears.
Suddenly finding his legs threatening to give out on him, he sat down in one of the globe’s padded chairs. Levitating his tea cup over to him he took an absent sip, only to grimace as he found the liquid stone cold.
“I may enjoy peppermint tea, but I find it absolutely repulsive when cold,” he muttered to himself, placing the cup back on the desk before quenching his magic.
“I will need time to recover from that. Small wonder Olive passed out like she did, I feel as drained as if I’d hoof-fought the Princesses themselves.”
He snorted in amusement as the mental image of him trading blows with Princess Luna flashed through his mind.
“Something tells me they would be hard to best. I wouldn’t put it past the Princess of the Moon to have a mean right hook.” A crooked grin split his muzzle as he entertained the train of thought. “Not to mention Celestia. I wonder if she would be as tough a fighter as she is a negotiator.”
The creak of protesting wood reached his ears and stole him from his thoughts.
“Young master, I have come to inform you that Madame Varnish has finished preparing your dinner and- sacre bleu! Young master, what in the name of the Maker has happened to you? You are as pale as a sheet!”
“Ah, Merlot. Excellent timing,” the stallion drawled nonchalantly. “Thank you for alerting me of the time. I would be deeply appreciative if you would help me get there, I’m afraid I’m not entirely certain I can walk.”
“Are you well, young master? You look as though you would be better off in bed, non.” The butler gave his lord a concerned look as Crux panted heavily, a film of sweat shining on his forehead.
“It was that devilish crystal discus, was it not young master? I told you it would be dangerous if you were not careful with it, non?”
“Don’t worry so much, Merlot. I’ll be fine. A filling meal and a full night’s sleep and I’ll be right as rain. I have to be at Uncle Godric’s estate in the next few days, however. His letter was urgent.”
“Ah, I assume he had telling information about said crystal?”
“Indeed, it appears he has a second and if there are two, there are likely even more.”
“I see. Well, if you are certain you can do without your bed, shall we get you out of here?”
“Oh, believe me Merlot. I look forward to retiring tonight, but for now I have dinner to attend with my daughters. And this is one dinner I will not be absent for!”
Merlot smiled indulgently. “Oui, Madame Varnish told me of your progress with the young ladies. Congratulations, sir.”
Crux coughed, waving a hoof dismissively. He was thankful for the dark coat that well hid his embarrassment.
“She didn’t tell anyone else did she?,” he asked quietly.
“Of course not sir, an honorable mare such as the Madame would not do such a thing.” The purple stallion smirked as the lord sighed in relief. “That is why I did.”
“What?!”
“The staff are very proud of you, young master.” The butler’s smirk remained as he pulled the sputtering young lord to his hooves.
“Now come, to dinner, oui?”