//------------------------------// // Those Who Are Left // Story: Crystalline // by Seraphine Starchaser //------------------------------// War does not determine who is right - only who is left. —Bertrand Russell Spike felt a little left out of everything. Here he was, in the Crystal Kingdom, and everyone was talking over his head, ignoring him. He wasn't a little kid anymore! Yeah, he was young, but he wasn't useless. "—I just think that books are only one part of the equation, Twilight dear," Rarity sighed in exasperation. "Yes, but I think that it would be better to start with the books. Cadence has made good progress already, but with more eyes—" "Twi, we don't know what might or might now be relevant. Talking to the townsfolk can also help us find out what could be important. It would take less time that reading, since we—" "Since we're not all eggheads like you Twilight!" Interjected Rainbow Dash. "Jeez, give us a break! I know books can help us, but we don't read as fast as you do." "So why don't you split up?" Spike offered. Silence reigned in the room as all ponies stared at the baby dragon. "What?" "Spike's right!" shouted Pinkie Pie. "We can get things done faster!" "But faster is not always better, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash," said Twilight. "Look, if we have all of us working on one thing, each taking her--" "—or his!" "—Or his," the purple unicorn amended, "own perspective into consideration, we can take a lot away from reading." "We understand, Twilight, we really do, but..." Fluttershy trailed off, looking to Rarity for assurance. "But maybe, if we do both at the same time, while communicating our findings to each other, we can put a stop to this Sombra fellow sooner," finished Rarity for her friend. Fluttershy smiled gratefully. "That's what I said!" Spike shouted. "Well, I didn't say that much, but that was the general idea." "And it is a great idea, Spikey-Wikey," crooned Rarity. She stroked the spikes on his head affectionately. He loved the attention, but hated that she treated him just like her cat. Twilight Sparkled just shook her head. She wasn't saying no, but she wasn't happy that her friends didn't realize the importance of studying before rushing off and, well, okay—maybe they had a point. "You're right, girls. I'm sorry for being obstinate--I'm not used to working with, er, other ponies." She took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Alright. We need to figure out a plan of action." Her purple ki wrapped around a nearby pen and paper. "So, how do we figure out who stays here and read, and who goes out to talk to ponies?" "Well I don't wanna be stuck here and read," Rainbow Dash griped. "Ew." "Fine, you can talk to the citizens. Just don't badger them or be rude." "Hey! I can be nice! I know what we're doing is important. I have manners, you know." "Coulda fooled me," Applejack muttered. Rarity tittered. "Anyway," Twilight continued loudly, "Dash wants to work with the crystal ponies. Does anypony else want to work with her?" "Ooh! Pick me! Pick me!" Pinkie Pie waved her hoof in the air. "...Sure." "Yay!" "I will also talk to ponies," Rarity offered. Twilight paused. "Are you sure, Rarity?" "I wouldn't have offered otherwise. Why?" "Nothing, I mean, it's just--" "We don't know if that's safe is all, sugarplum," Applejack said. "I'm not sure I understand. What are you implying, Applejack?" The farm pony waved her hoofs in front of her frantically. "Nothin' bad, sweet pea! I'm just--we're just worried. What if Sombra tries something again? We don't know nothin' 'bout what happened." "She's right, Rarity," Twilight nodded. "Maybe it would be better to stay in here, just in case--" The white unicorn held up her hoof. "I understand your concern, girls, and I thank you for it. However, I don't think I'd be any safer in here. Twilight, your brother's shield is protecting all of us, including me. When we reached the entry point, everything stopped." She flicked her hair. "Besides," she continued, "I'm sure my charisma will come in handy when interviewing the citizens." "Maybe, if it makes everypony feel better, I can go with her to guard her," Spike offered. "That's a good idea, Spike!" The little dragon puffed up in pride. "But," Twilight added, "I'd feel better if you had some unicorns to guard you, Rares." Applejack nodded. "It makes sense, seein' how your magic might be affected somehow," she said. "I understand, girls. I'll do my best to be safe, but the important thing is to get this solved. If anyone finds any information regarding this strange dilemma with me, we should have a way to communicate with each other. Any pertinent information regarding this Sombra stallion, really." Rarity said. "Do you have any ideas for communication, Twilight dear?" The purple unicorn put a hoof to her lip and tapped it twice. "Not yet, but gimme a few minutes. I'm sure I can come up with something. In the meantime," she started, "let's take a quick break and reconvene here in say, oh, fifteen minutes?" "Alright everypony—" "WAIT!" Everypony winced at Pinkie Pie's loud exclamation. Twilight Sparkle sighed, feeling a migraine coming on. "Yes, Pinkie?" "It hasn't been fifteen minutes yet. We have three more minutes of freedom." "Freedom?" "Pinkie Pie, this isn't a lecture. We'll have more freedom later, but I just really want to get this done with, go home, and relax," Rainbow Dash said. "Right, Twilight?" "Oh, yes, of course," she said as she shuffled her notes to the side. A blush rose to her cheeks. "Right. So I did come up with an idea for communication. But the thing is, I doubt it would work for anyone other than Rarity for two main reasons: "First, as you've noticed, Rarity and I are unicorns. We know all ponies have their own magic, but none so blatant as unicorns and their horns. Not necessarily the source of our power, it is nonetheless a conduit for magic, conjuring, dispelling, et cetera. Without going into too much detail, each unicorn has his or her own magical signature. Being friends with Rarity, a fellow unicorn, we know one another's magical signatures very well by now. "The second reason why Rarity is most likely the only other pony this would work for is that she is the only one that currently is carrying a compact. Between these two factors, I can surmise that it is possible to contact Rarity, and vice versa, through our magical signatures and a mirror, or a mirror-like substance, such as water." "Woah," Applejack said. "That's pretty neat. I didn't know that you guys could tell each other's magic signature thing." "Doesn't that ever get annoying? Like, is it a constant thing? How do you sleep?" Rainbow Dash asked. "I wonder what my flavor would be if I was a unicorn..." Pinkie Pie pondered aloud. "It is sort of like a flavor for every individual. You don't taste it, but everyone is different, though in families, magical signatures can be similar." "Sweetie Bell's aura is very similar to mine, actually," Rarity said. "Right. Anyway, that's the gist of it. May I see your compact mirror, Rarity?" Twilight held out her hoof. Rarity nosed through her saddlebag until she saw the object in question. She gathered it in her ki and gently set it in her friend's hoof. "Great, thanks. Okay, now let's see if this works..." Twilight concentrated on the magical spell she created, linking Rarity's aura (and her own as well) to her compact and allowing one to speak and listen from the mirrors. She had already previously linked her own magical signature to a bowl of water nearby. "I think it's done. Now I just need you to gently take hold of that bowl of water so it recognizes your ki, okay?" "Of course." Rarity did as she was asked, levitating the bowl slowly, then lowering it. "Is that enough?" "Should be. Let's test them out. All you need to do is go out in the hall. I will concentrate on your aura combined with mine in your compact via this bowl of water," said Twilight. "After that, if it works, stay out there and try doing the same with me, okay?" "Oh, but how will I know if you are trying to contact me?" "You should be able to hear my voice even if your compact is closed." "I'm really curious though," Applejack said. "Why would Rarity just moving that thing help?" "Well, every time one unicorn uses his or her ki to interact with an object, person, etc.," Rarity explained, "you leave a bit of your magical signature behind briefly." "Yes, but I made sure to use a spell that traps a little bit of our ki to keep it there," Twilight said. "Now Rarity, if you would be so kind..." "Oh! Of course, dear." The white unicorn stood and walked out of the library, closing the door behind her. Seconds later she heard Twilight's muffled voice from her compact. She grabbed it with her ki and brought it to her face. “Test, testing, one, two, three. This is a test. Rarity, can you hear me?” Opening it, she saw only her reflection. Feeling rather embarrassed, she spoke quietly: “Twilight?” “Rarity? Can you hear me? I can hear you clearly.” “Yes, I can hear you crystal clear dear. So I feel your ki more strongly when you are speaking this way. Should that be an indicator to answer this… er, you, through this way?” “If possible. I cannot see you, and I am guessing you cannot see me.” “Only my lovely visage appears.” “That’s okay. I’m speaking through a bowl filled with water. Do you remember that bowl? Find your small ki there and mine as well. Keep your compact open and just speak, okay?” Twilight explained. “I’ll try,” Rarity replied. She let go of her compact with her ki and put it in her hoof. She pictured the bowl in her mind, the room behind her, and the mix of the magical auras surrounding the object, through her compact. She felt connected through it somehow, like her compact was a telescope looking for foreign objects. She cautiously looked into her mirror and spoke. “Twilight, can you hear me?” She waited for a response, maintaining the link at the same time. “Is it working?” “Yes, I can hear you perfectly and concisely! I can’t believe this worked!” Rarity merely smiled, happy for her friend’s success. “Okay Rarity, now let’s test it out further, and keep talking to me. Go outside with Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie and we’ll see how well this works!” After many tests, it was surmised that the mode of communication would work for their undertaking. Returning to the library, the girls split into their separate groups to determine the best method for their tasks. “So me, Rarity, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie,” Spike said. “That’s…” “—an awesome group!” Dash said. “We’re so gonna kick butt!” “But kicking butt isn’t a nice way to talk to ponies,” Pinkie said as she tilted her head. Dash just face hoofed. “We’re going to do the best we can, Pinkie Pie,” Rarity promised. “How can we do the best we can if we’re kicking butt?” “What I meant,” Rainbow Dash clarified, “is that we’re not kicking butt, but we do have a great team for this mission. Me, being charismatic and awesome, Pinkie… you’re energetic—” “That’s an understatement,” said Rarity. “And you’re, er, well-mannered.” “Ahem!” Spike huffed. “Oh, and Spike is, ah, helping the guards keep Rarity safe, right Spike?” He puffed up his chest. “You got nothing to worry about, my fair lady!” He bowed to his not-so-secret crush. “Thank you dear.” Rarity patted him on his head. “So, how should we approach this? Should we come up with questions to ask, or how to approach ponies?” Pinkie tapped her lip thoughtfully. “Well, we’re looking for information on Sombra, right? We should probably just focus on that. I mean, what if someone else is having a conversation with us and we’re too busy to go talk to other ponies?” “Alright, good point my dear.” Rarity levitated paper and a writing utensil. “So, focus on the previous king. How about asking if they know about this history of the monarchy? And anything about the annexing I suppose.” “Why? What is annexing?” Rainbow Dash asked. “It’s the taking, or occupying, a state or country into the taker’s kingdom or country.” “Woah, that sounds cool and not cool at the same time.” “Exactly. What are we missing here? Why are the citizens like this—because of a curse? If it is still in effect (which it seems to be), we may get some answers about the king himself.” Rarity wrote everything down. “Well, why do we need this list then? We don’t have to ask every single question, especially if no one will talk to us. We need tact, you know?” Dash pointed out. “Maybe we could just use it as a reminder, right?” Pinkie Pie asked. “Sure, that works for me,” Spike shrugged. “Before we go out, does anyone have anything to add to the list?” Asked Rarity. After receiving negative replies, she duplicated it thrice for every member of her group. Questions to Ask Civilians: --What do you remember of King Sombra’s reign? --Have you, or anyone you know, ever met with him? --Did you know the king personally? --Did the king have any enemies? --What was the transition like for the Crystal Kingdom to become part of Equestria? --Do you know what happened to the king? --Have you heard rumors that the king may have been cursed? “Alright everypony, I guess this is it. It’s pretty late to start now though,” Rarity said, glancing into the darkened night. “How about starting early tomorrow?” “Not too early! I stay up kinda late, but I’ll try to go to bed early tonight,” Pinkie Pie said. “No problem for me,” Dash said. “I’m in,” Spike nodded. “We should let Twilight know and get everything together for tomorrow.” The three fillies (and young gentle drake) walked back to Twilight’s group. “How’s it going guys?” Applejack asked. Fluttershy waved. “Good, we’re pretty much all set, but we’ve decided to get on it early tomorrow,” Pinkie Pie stated. “What about you guys?” “Pretty much the same thing. We’ve come up with a list of things to look for, and we’ve looked through a few books to start,” the farm pony said. Fluttershy mumbled in accordance. “This is a good start girls! I’m gonna stay up a little bit late to see about the history before King Sombra,” Twilight said and looked up from her book. “I’ll make sure guards are with you guys tomorrow. You all should eat a bit before going to bed, okay?” The girls waved to their friend as they left to go find their chambers. “Twilight, are you sure I should go with Rarity? I’m you’re number one assistant after all,” Spike said. Twilight Sparkle smiled. “You are, Spike, but I think Rarity might need your help more this time around. Do you want to help me for now? If you just want to sleep you should—you’re still just a kid.” “Nah, I’ll stay with you for a bit.” The two smiled at each other before getting back to work.