Turning Points

by Slatewings

Act Three: Chapter Two - The Empire

Act Three Chapter Two - The Empire

A nondescript sky wagon descended through the icy morning fog that ringed the city known as the Crystal Empire. On board, the normally ever cheerful Peridot was pressed flat against the floor of the carriage holding on for dear life and yelping in surprise at the slightest of bumps. When the pegasus pulling the wagon expertly set down on the smooth road leading into the city she screamed out loud.

“Whoa there miss,” comforted the driver. “It’s okay, we’re down.”

“We are?” Peridot asked, opening a single eye to scout her surroundings before leaping from the wagon and repeatedly kissing the ground. “M’wah! Beautiful ground! M’wah. I’ll never leave you again!”

She noticed the driver staring at her with a raised eyebrow, “Oh.. Um..thanks for the ride.. but I think I’ll be riding back by caravan…”

The diver rolled his eyes and, after accepting a small pouch of bits, returned to the air. Embarrassed, Peridot smiled sheepishly at the few onlooking crystal ponies before levitating her saddle bags onto her back and trotting up the road to the border gate.

Even though she was still technically outside the Crystal Empire proper, Peridot was amazed at how different things were here. The road itself was like nothing she had seen before. Most of the roads back home were cobblestone, gravel, or dirt. Even the palace, whose road past the gate was made from carefully laid marble was pitted and bumpy in comparison. The roads here were as smooth as glass. The grass lining the roads seemed ordinary enough so long as one didn’t look too closely. If you did, you’d notice that the blades didn’t smoothly taper like normal but instead were marked by angular corners and straight edges.

Peridot approached the border gate, which was more like a squad armored guard ponies, a rope, and a sign reading ‘please comply with all orders’ than an actual gate. Still, Peridot mused that somepony’d have an easier time bucking down an actual gate than sneaking past these guards. One of which was awkwardly holding a sign that read ‘Peridot’ in big black letters.

“Hi, I’m Peridot,” she said as she approached him, holding out an expectant hoof.

The guard looked her up and down and huffed, “Good, follow me.” The gruff guard pony turned smartly and walked away without another word, leaving Peridot with a hoof hanging in the air.

“Nice to meet you too…” Peridot frowned but followed the unfriendly stallion through the guard post and into the city proper.

The Crystal Empire was unlike anything she could have imagined. The moment she crossed the border the atmosphere changed. Cold to the point of biting beyond, the city itself was filled with a sunsoaked warmth that Peridot could feel from the inside out. Everywhere she looked she was treated to new sights. Crystal ponies, who were spectacular in and of themselves, were hanging banners and setting up stalls among the stately gemlike buildings. In fact, Peridot couldn’t help but feel a sense of deja vu. The streets were filled with the same carnival atmosphere that she had left in Equestria just the day before.

“Is there some kind of celebration coming up?” Peridot asked her guide.

“Some kind,” was his answer.

“Um…” Peridot said, still confused by the guard’s attitude, “what kind is that?”

“The celebratory kind.”

Peridot humphed. What ever this guard’s problem was, he sure we putting a damper on her first trip to the Empire. She decided it wasn’t worth the bother trying again, somepony at the palace would explain.

It was hard to stay grumpy for long. By the time they approached the palace Peridot was bouncing along on her hooves smiling from ear to ear at the ponies rushing to and fro as they prepared for the apparently upcoming festivities. A smiling filly with a painter’s pallet rushed up and deftly drew a pink heart on Peridot’s cheek before she could even protest. Not that she would, she absolutely loved face painting!

Though still her guide hardly offered a single word, the walk to the palace flew by. By the time Peridot’s hooves clicked against the smooth surface of the palace steps she was festooned with so many shining ribbons and strings of gem like beads that she gleamed almost as much as the crystal ponies themselves.

Peridot had been able to see the palace from the moment she landed. Indeed, it positively dominated the landscape. Up close, however, the great rising spire of ice blue crystal humbled her. Equestria had nothing that compared. Nothing like it had ever been built before, not even back in the dawn ages when alicorns ruled the world.

The thought made Peridot smile. “At least Equestria has the Princesses, top that,” she chirped to herself. Her guide humphed, sensing what she meant.

“I didn’t mean any disrespect!” Peridot said quickly, not wanting to offend. “This,” she said indicating the palace with her hoof, “is the most incredible thing I’ve ever seen.”

“Yes, it is,” he responded. He pointed up to the main gate, “Somepony will meet you inside.”

“Thanks for the help, sir,” Peridot said, looking up at the palace. She turned to say goodbye only to find that he was already walking away. She shook her head, wondering what his problem was.

She reached the gate and found herself staring into the glassy surface, not knowing what to do. Knocking on the gate felt disrespectful and the imposing tower rising above her silenced all thought of calling out for admittance. Not knowing what else to do, Peridot sat on the stairs and waited for somepony to notice her.

A short while passed and a young stallion with a messenger bag clopped up the stairs to the palace gate. He noticed Peridot sitting alone of the palace’s door stoop.

“Are you okay ma’am?” He asked.

“Oh hi!” Peridot said hopefully. “I, um, don’t know how to get in…”

The stallion laughed, “Did you ring the bell?”

“Bell?”

He pointed to a ornate rope hanging from the corner of the great gate, prompting Peridot to smack a hoof to her forehead. “Oh… that bell.”

The stallion rolled his eyes and pulled the rope with his teeth. Peridot covered her ears, expecting a great resounding gong befitting the towers regal stature. Instead a soft tinkling sound wafted beneath the heavy doors, something like a silver tea bell. A moment later the gate opened smoothly admitting the messenger pony.

Peridot stared blankly for a moment before the doors began to swing shut. She quickly shot through the doors just managing to get her tail clear before they clamped shut. The guards who had opened the door stiffened at the sight of the unexpected visitor sprang forward, positioning themselves between Peridot and the rest of the palace entrance.

“Stop right there!” an imposing grey stallion demanded. “State your business!”

“I.. um…” Peridot did not enjoy being put on the spot. “The guard pony who lead me here just dropped me off and I wasn’t sure how to open the door and so I just waited outside all confused before this messenger pony came along and told me about the doorbell but I was so surprised that I didn’t see it that I wasn’t paying attention until the door started to close again and I didn’t want to get locked out again and so I jumped through the door just before it closed,” she rambled before adding as an afterthought “Sir.”

Unfazed, the guard pony said, “A member of the Crystal Guard guided you to the palace?”

Peridot nodded.

The guard relaxed, “Ah, I see. I assume you have an appointment then.”

Peridot nodded again.

“And that would be with?” he asked expectantly.

“Oh! Sorry,” Peridot answered. She fished a letter out of her saddlebag and held it out for him to see. “I’m suppose to check in with Lumine when I get here.”

The guard’s face dropped, “Oh. I see. Well then you’d better follow me.” He turned and walked down the short hall before ascending the staircase at its end.

“Huh? What did I say?” She hurried after him. Peridot huffed, unaccustomed to climbing so many stairs. She caught up with him as he reached the top, a few flights up from the entrance floor, “Um… excuse me. Did I do something wrong?”

“No ma’am,” he answered curtly, keeping pace a few ahead of her.

“Then… why are all the guards being so grumpy with me?”

“I wouldn’t know,” he answered. “Please, down the hall to your left. Second door.”

“But why are you…” she humphed, “nevermind.”

Peridot straightened her bags and walked down the hall. By the time she approached the door she had forgotten the grumpy guard, both grumpy guards, and was again trotting happily along on the halls plush red carpet taking in the sights of the palace.

The door she was looking for was carved from bright red painted wood, unlike the others she passed which were made out of the empire’s characteristic gemlike material. Marked in the center of the door was a symbol depicting a single star shaped gem, which Peridot guessed was the occupants cutie mark.

After a taking a moment to check for a bell cord and deciding it best not to wait for another messenger pony, Peridot politely knocked on the door with a hoof.

“Wha? Who is… Ahh!!” said a stallion’s voice from behind the door. A moment later there was a terrible crash like somepony dropped a stack of ceramic plates. “Woh! Woh! Nononono!” A whinging pitch rose to a crescendo and a brilliant flash of light shone around the edges of the door. A second later, the knob turned and the door opened inward revealing a very unhappy unicorn crystal pony stallion with a singed silver coat and a dark blue, and only slightly burnt, mane.

“Oh hi, I’m um,” Peridot winced, “Sorry…”

“Can I help you, ma’am?” he said, blowing out a small flame on an errant forelock curl.

“I was told to find you,” Peridot said nervously. “I just arrived at the palace and…”

Suddenly, his eyes brightened. He smiled widely and grasped Peridot’s hoof.

“Oh yes! The expert from Equestria!” he exclaimed. “I should have known. Please, come in, come in, miss… ”

“Peridot.”

“Miss Peridot. Well please come in,” he opened the door to its fullest extent, dragging it through the fresh, and still smoldering, debris.

“You’ll have to pardon the mess,” he said as he hurriedly attempted to brush more shattered gemstone from a table and chairs, before giving up and lifting them in his magic, inverting them and shaking them off. “I wish I could blame it all on that little mishap you heard but I’m afraid the place usually looks like this.” He motioned for her to have a seat, “Can I get you anything?”

Peridot smiled, happy to talk with somepony who wasn’t grumping and actually talked back, “Maybe just a drink of water.”

“Of course,” the stallion nodded and dashed off around a bend, leaving Peridot to look around at the ruins of what was obviously a lab of some kind. “I’m Lumine, by the way. Of course you already knew that seeing as how you came here looking for me. Still, I thought I’d go ahead and introduce myself just incase you didn’t.” He emerged from the back with a glass of water and placed it on the table beside peridot. “In any case, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Peridot giggled at Lumine’s rambling, “Very nice to meet you to. You’re the first pony I’ve met here who seemed interested in talking.”

“Really?” he asked. “That’s surprising. Usually everypony is in a good mood for the Crystal Fair. It’s kind of the whole point of the fair you know. Powering up the Crystal Heart and all. Hm! On second thought that’s probably it exactly. Perhaps the ponies you talked to all knew why you were here. I’m not exactly popular these days. Seems most everypony thinks its a bad idea to go poking around with the Heart. Somepony even spread a rumor that I’m going to steal it away or break it. All quite false by the way, I’d never do anything of the sort. I’m as loyal a citizen of the Empire as there’s ever been. So what if I’m a unicorn, the Princess is a pegasus and you don’t hear the ponies suspect her of anything nefarious do you? Of course not. Then again you’ve only just arived so I doubt you’ve heard much of what anypony has to say about anything. In fact forget that whole part regarding the nefarious rumors spread against my good name, better we start out with a clean slate right?”

Peridot shook her head, “Wow and they call me a fast talker.”

Lumine rubbed the back of his head, “I suppose to do tend to prattle on a bit. Not that there’s anything wrong with prattling. I like to think of it as letting everypony in on what I’m thinking. Have you ever been talking to somepony and they say something like, ‘Its almost lunch time’ then a moment later say something like ‘I think the silver candle sticks are much nicer than the pewter candlesticks’ and you find yourself wondering how they got from the first bit to the second?’ You’ll never have that problem with me, I always let you know exactly what I’m thinking. ”

Peridot just blinked.

“So what was it that lead you to accept our request for assistance?”

“Oh,” Peridot started, having given up on making sense of his rattled off statement, “Actually, my grandmother is old friends with our princesses. They told me that you needed a helping hoof and thought I’d fit the bill. And, seeing how I could never say no to Grammy Tourmaline, let alone the princesses, here I am. Wait, did you say something about a fair? Is that what’s going on?”

“Ah yes. It’s the event of the year,” he explained. “Party favors, games, performances, everything to put everybody in the very best mood possible until everypony in the Empire is positively bursting with good feelings. Then when everything is ready, everypony gathers round for the Crystal Heart ceremony.” Lumine sprang to his hooves, “The Heart ceremony! I almost forgot! It’s a good thing you came by when you did. I almost missed out on it. Come on!”

Lumine grabbed Peridot by the hoof and practically dragged her down the hall and down the stairs to the palace gate. “You’re going to love this. It’s practically the whole reason you came.”

They ran out the front gate to find what seemed to be the entire population of the Crystal Empire gathered around the palace.

“What’s everypony doing?” Peridot asked.

“Well you see,” Lumine explained, “Everything we have here, our crops, our fortunes, our very city, we owe to the Crystal Heart, A gift from Equestria, I might add, a powerfull resevoir of all the energies we call ‘harmony’. But that power doesn’t just come from nowhere. Every year for the past fifty years or so we throw a great festival, the Crystal Fair, to raise everyponies spirits and sense of comunity as high as it can be. Then the Princess herself takes the Heart from it’s place high in the palace spire and presents it to the ponies of the empire. She places it in a special foci beneath the spire and all the gathered ponies let that light of harmony and comraderie shine as bright as they can. The Heart, through some mechanism I’ve been unable to discern, absorbs those energies and taps into the primordial power of Harmony itself thus ensuring it has the strength to continue blessing our fair Empire for another year.”

“You don’t know why it does what it does?” Peridot asked, surprised.

“Not as of yet, no. Nor do any of the ponies who actually acted in it’s creation,” he answered, “Like your princesses, from what I’ve been told.”

A chorus of horns sounded through the streets.

“Oh! Here she comes,” Lumine said excitedly, “Did you know that the Princess first…”

“SHHH!!!” said somepony behind them.

Lumine scoffed, “Well, Peridot. I certainly see what you mean by there being a few rude ponies about today. I was only trying to explain that…”

“SHHHHH!” shushed everypony around them.

Lumine grumbled something unintelligible.

“Ladies and Gentlestallions of the Crystal Empire!” Proclaimed a regally dressed crier from beneath the spire. “It is my great honor to present to you your beloved Princess Benevolentia!”

The gathered crowd cheered. Fillies and colts jumped up and down waving brightly colored ribbons and sang out cries of joy. With another round of chorus of fanfare played by the horn blowers a beautiful yellow pegasus swooped in low over the gathered ponies, her dress trailing a long flowing train and the sunlight catching in her gem studded golden mane. She landed silently beneath the spire holding a silken bundle to her chest.

She smiled graciously to the crowd and calmly approached the center of a great star etched in the floor beneath the spire. She seemed to be taking her time with each step, as if reflecting on the importance of what she was doing. In response the crowds celebration quieted until the only sound was the gentle breeze and the near inaudible hoof falls of the princess.

Peridot watched with curiosity as the princess came to a stop and gently unwrapped the bundle of cloth. Her eyes widened as the last fold was drawn back revealing a single, pale blue gemstone beautifully cut to the shape of a heart.

“The Crystal Heart,” she heard Lumine whisper softly.

The princess held the Heart aloft in her hooves, presenting it to the crowd before slowly releasing it. Peridot’s heart fluttered as she expected the gem to fall to the hard ground, but it didn’t. The Heart floated upward gently. Peridot scanned the crowd to look for the unicorn who was levitating it but soon realized that no aura of magic surrounded the Heart, It floated under its own power.

The heart came to rest in mid air beneath the spire. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, the Crystalline material of the floor beneath the Heart and the shining ceiling above began to change. Before her eyes, two sharp spokes of pure blue gemstone grew out of those surfaces until their points were only a hoof width from the heart, which spun slowly between them.

“I can’t believe it…” Peridot muttered in awe. Nothing she had ever read or studied described anything remotely like this.

All around her, the crystal ponies began to bow. They bent low, one knee to the ground, smiling warmly. Even the princess paid respect to the Heart.

Again, Peridot’s eyes widened as the crystal ponies, one and all, began to glow with a light not unlike that of a unicorn’s magic. The light spread until everything was bathed in its radiance. Soon, as if paying respect in kind, the Heart began to glow in return, spinning faster as it did. The light of the heart grew in intensity until Peridot could take it no more. Then, with a flash that outshined the sun, a wave of brilliant crystalline resplendence washed outward. In its passing, the crystal ponies rose to their hooves, their coats, manes, and even hooves shining as if cut from the purest diamond.

Peridot gasped in surprise as she looked down and saw her own coat shining like that of the crystal ponies, earning her a smile from Lumine.

“That, my honored guest, is what you are going to help me understand.”