“The colt’s name was Somber Rays. He kept a detailed journal and wrote several life accounts; they are the earliest whole records left.
“He remembered the day quite clearly.”
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The young unicorn colt looked up as the clouds parted for just a moment, and the flurries of snow calmed into a light dusting. Lord Discord was in a generous mood today—the sun was still yellow, it moved at a reasonable pace, and the snow was plain old frozen water.
He sent a quick prayer, thanking the King for such a benevolent gift to his subjects, and then returned to his task.
A few stubby trees grew just in front of him, their glowing leaves and bark giving the only contrast to the white wasteland all around. The whole surfaces of the trees glistened, dripping hissing orange drops of sap onto the bare, pitted ground circling the small grove.
With happiness, he noted how many new lavaleaves had grown since the last day; there would be enough for the village dinner for foal and filly alike. Even enough for the stallions! What a piece of good fortune. If the hunters came back with an ice worm or two, there would be a celebration tonight—an ever-rarer circumstance.
He shouldered his basket onto the ground and began to cautiously pick each leaf and lay it into the layer of snow on the bottom. As each drifted into the basket, they hissed, the snow cooling their superheated surfaces as it melted.
As he worked, horn glowing, he was careful to pay attention to the droplets falling from the tree. The smallest drop could burn a hole into one’s coat which took many weeks to grow over. He did not want an unsightly blemish on his sleek, black coat; how was he to impress Snow Flurry with a marred coat?
A drop hit the ground with a clink, and the colt paused. Clink? He’d never heard the lavaleaf sap make such a sound in all his years of harvesting. He set the basket well out of the way, settling it firmly in the snow, and then waited, ears pricked.
Only a hooffull of drips later, the same noise sounded, and he inspected the area around the noise.
A glint caught his eye, and they riveted on the hint of blue in one of the droplet pits. As he watched, a drip hit the object and clinked—and left nary a mark on it!
Excited, he began to scrape at the ground around it, still paying attention to the timing of the sap. If this didn’t scar at the lavaleaf’s sap, it would be a great boon to the foals learning to gather while they figured out the timing of their grove.
Soon he scraped the dirt covering the object away, and gazed upon a strangely-shaped crystal, the likes of which he’d never seen, far larger than any crystal anypony had ever before brought to the village. Surely he’d get a double—maybe even a triple!—portion for the next week for such a magnificent and useful gift.
He lit his horn and began to lift it, but grunted in surprise at its unexpected weight. It was far heavier than anything he’d ever lifted, and his legs trembled as he set it upon his back, murmuring gratitude for such an incredible gift.
Fastidiously, he ensured that his basket was full and made sure all the leaves were picked from the trees. Then, he levitated that before him and began to pick his way towards the mountains in the distance and his home.