Awkward Introductions and Goodbyes
"I hope we didn't lose too much time," Berry said as they galloped away from the city center.
“No, we had to start from there anyway. I think I know the pattern they'll be in. We just need to check all the roads that lead to a water well. Those are the roads that we had to walk as slaves. Those are the roads we couldn't avoid." Onyx' voice barely started to go back to its monotone.
Berry fell silent as they reached the first one. Another little girl, this one with her arms open as if she were crucified, and ready to plunge her chest into the shards around the pedestal.
"We'll tip her over together," Onyx said, starting to push the thing over.
Berry saw the exertion on the mare's face. "Wait a second, you can't lift that on your own?"
"N-no. I could really use some help here."
"Wait, hang on." Berry dragged the girl down by her arms and almost found herself crushed under the weight. She staggered back with the massive thing in her arms, before gently placing it on the ground. Her muscles burned, but she wouldn't show it.
Onyx whistled, impressed. "Oh, my. Are you sure you're not a hero? You have the strength of a reindeer buck."
"Earth pony strength," Berry said, rubbing her sore back. "Sombra must have counted on these things being too heavy for a Crystal pony, too."
The sky flickered again.
Onyx sighed, before pointing her snout towards their next target. "We'd best get moving. There's the first water well, and another filly.”
Berry rushed towards the statue and pulled it down by the neck, letting its weight fall on her again. She was quicker this time, but still as gentle as she could muster. "What's so special about the water wells, then? How are you so sure it's only these streets?"
Onyx suppressed a growl as she headed off towards the next well. "Sombra made us drain the water wells, then turned them into mine shafts. There's two more children." She tried to help steady the things as Berry pulled them down, one after the other, but it was clear the Crystal pony wasn't up to the task.
Berry groaned and hissed under her breath, but her body still endured. She gasped for air when the first one went down, then yelped when she cut her wrist on one the shards around the second one. Once the third kid was secured, she put some alcohol on the cut and dressed it with an emergency bandage she carried around for bandage emergencies.
"So, what, Sombra tried to mine out the crystals?" Berry asked, if only to distract herself from the pain.
Onyx trotted along, Berry in tow. "No, not the crystals. Sombra wanted something more valuable than that."
"And that was?"
Onyx stopped and nodded towards a statue that was standing on one hoof, poised to fall down on her back when brought back to life. "There's another one."
Berry grunted and heaved, and put the thing down safely. Five down, if her count wasn't off.
Finally, the Crystal pony thought of a good enough answer. "Do you still have worship in this day and age?"
Berry took a moment to catch her breath, then galloped forward. Onyx took the hint and ran ahead of her.
"We don't really pray anymore, if that's what you mean."
"But do you know what sacred ground is?"
"Sure. It's consecrated, blessed. It's got a magic charge, it's usually off limits. You're supposed to respect that."
They were almost at the sheep meadows now. Another water well stood due west of them, and another statue stood right in front of them. Berry's body was shaking all over, but she didn't even think twice before lifting another petrified girl out of harm's way.
"And do you know what holy water is?" Onyx asked as she tried to bear as much of the thing's weight as she could.
Berry gasped for air and wiped her brow. She'd cut herself again, this time on her right hind hoof when she'd put it up against the pedestal to steady herself. She took a swig of cherry beer, to numb herself to the pain. "Yeah, we still know the concept. Water with a charge, right? It's supposed to heal, or bless, or purify. But that kind of magic's really old, nopony uses that nowadays. Do you?"
"You might say that we built our Empire on it. Suppose you could freeze holy water, and it wouldn't lose its power. What do you think you could do with that?"
Berry thought it over as they picked up the pace again. "Oh. So Sombra was going to make you mine out ice?”
"The sacred permafrost underneath our Empire, yes, beneath the layers we use to store energy. He took hold of our minds and souls by corrupting the Crystal Heart. The crystals in our city only affect the continent. With enough time, he could have done the same to the roof of the world and enslaved the whole planet. That's why we only need to check the routes to the water wells. That's where we worked."
Berry stopped as they reached another little girl, this one posed to look like she was swooning. If Berry could tell the trajectories right, this one would have landed with her throat on the sharp edges. "And, umm, if you don't mind me asking, how long did he manage to stay in power?"
Onyx shrugged, before getting into position to pull. "I can't say. The Crystal Heart was such a big part of our lives, when it was stolen we lost our sense of time. It might have been weeks, months, years. Maybe he only had a day, and he made it feel like an eternity."
Berry gritted her teeth and pulled. Another one down, another one safe. "Once this is over, you should visit Equestria sometime. Everything's new now, you should see it, you and your family."
Onyx smiled and wiped some sweat off her brow. "I think I will. But this first."
"Right. Don't worry, the Elements of Harmony have got the Crystal Heart safe, Sombra won't be able to touch it ever again."
"I know. We're just cleaning up his mess while the real heroes take care of it."
"Okay, so that's Citrine Street, the Marble Quarter, and Farmers' Corner. That just leaves Tin Lane," Onyx said, panting.
Berryshine's whole body burned with the exertion, and her back creaked with every step she took. While she did make good times on the annual Falling of the Leaves runs, she wasn't used to hauling heavy weights. And, evidently, neither was Onyx.
They reached the final statue just as the sky flickered again.
Cryssstalls...
"Sombra's getting closer. They'll be firing the Crystal Heart soon," Onyx said as they pulled off the last of the statues. This one was another filly, and much like the others, it was posed for certain death.
Berry tipped the thing and let it land harmlessly on her back. Her hooves were in agony, now, because of little cuts that had accumulated from the shards around the pedestals. Sombra certainly liked his boobytraps, Berry could tell that much.
The girl, whom Onyx knew as little Copper, weighed a ton, just like the other petrified children, but Berryshine gritted her teeth and set her down gently, rolling the thing over so she'd be on her side. The pair checked the surroundings to make sure it was safe, then Onyx let off a sigh of relief.
"You covered the whole city. You did it," Onyx said.
"We did it."
Onyx chuckled and nudged her new friend. "You're the one who did all the heavy lifting, Berryshine. You saved our children."
"I wouldn't have known where they were if it wasn't for you," Berry argued. "Anyway, you're sure that's the last of them?"
"Yes, we've gone full circle: every water well that used to be a mining shaft, every road that led to them. Every place Sombra could put a child on display, we've gone over. It's done."
The streets began to quake. Berryshine and Onyx exchanged a worried glance.
"Maybe we should head to the Crystal Heart now,” Onyx said.
"Probably a good idea. But hey, just out of curiosity, that Crystal Heart, that's not going to, you know, fry everything that's not a Crystal pony, right?"
"No, it shouldn't. It's perfectly safe," Onyx said as she saw clamouring crowd in front of the Crystal Palace. "Why are they all standing in front of the balcony and not around the Crystal Heart?"
Berryshine frowned and looked at the Fair as the shadow appeared again. There he was, that old shadow of a tyrant, driving some of the stragglers onward.
A shiver ran down her spine, and she looked up on instinct. Right at the tip of the tower stood a purple baby dragon, carrying what looked like a heart made out of crystal.
"Why isn't the Crystal Heart down there, where they left it?" Onyx asked, looking up as well.
Berry's heart sank. "Because they never had the Crystal Heart in the first place, they've been looking for it this whole time. They probably figured any heart made out of crystal would do. Why didn't they just check the top of the tower?"
Onyx furrowed her brow in confusion. "Why would they?"
"Think about it. The magic around here runs through crystals, it runs through the ground. The best place to hide the Heart is as far up high as you can. Every faerie tale we know, princesses and treasures are hidden at the top of the highest tower. That's the first place you check."
Onyx stared at her blankly for a second. "Umm, just a friendly reminder: we've been gone for a millennium. Your faerie tales, our news."
"I know," Berry said as they rushed towards the Palace. "But Twilight and her friends, they ought to know better. Rainbow Dash is a lot of things, but she's not a complete idiot. She should've done a flyby. Heck, slap some wings on that damn unicorn and she'd have done a flyby. It's not like them to mess up on something that big."
"It might be King Sombra's magic. He did have a way to make ponies forget, or not realise what was there. I didn't even know there were statues in our streets, remember? At least the children are safe."
Time slowed down as Berry saw a movement near the balcony in the distance. "Onyx?"
"What?"
Berryshine's eyes fell on a shape dangling among the crystals underneath the arch, right next to the one under the balcony, barely out of sight of the Elements and the crowds. Her pace quickened. "Look there, under the arch."
"Where?"
"Right there! Don't you see it?" Berry pointed to the thing. It was well-hidden with all the surrounding outgrowths, but with the ground shaking like it did there was a very obvious swinging shape there, like a pendulum.
Onyx’ eyes went wide as she gasped. "Oh, stars. He strung her up. That monster, he strung her up."
Sure enough, hidden amidst the crystals of the Palace, there hung one last statue, attached at the tail by a rope that was painted blue to make it blend in better.
Berry panted as she ran for all she was worth. She felt, rather than heard, the roar of King Sombra as he dove into the ground and rode a corrupted black crystal. Spike was cornered, he was surely going to fall.
Berry forced herself not to think about it. Spike was a tough kid, he'd lain waste to Ponyville once, he'd probably spontaneously sprout wings if he had to. Berry was only concerned for the filly. "Who is she?"
"That's Princess Skyla, the heir to the throne. I thought Sombra killed her along with her parents. We all thought she was dead."
Sombra's pillar of black crystal rose up towards Spike. Berry and Onyx stopped once they were right under the princess' remains, in front of the arch. The crowd didn’t notice them; too busy yelling at the supposed heroes of Equestria.
"What do we do? I can't fly," Berryshine said. “We’d better call Rainbow-”
Everything happened so fast then. Spike fell, Crystal Heart clutched in his little claws. Sombra drove the black pillar he was on towards the falling dragon, eyes on his prize.
Something large and pink swooped past to catch the little guy and drop him in the center of the tower, too far from the arch for Berry to cry out.
A voice, calm and collected, but powerful, spoke through everypony's hearts.
"The Crystal Heart has returned. Use the light and love within you to ensure that King Sombra does not."
Berry looked up. "No. Onyx..."
Onyx didn't hear. She bowed to Princess Cadence and the Crystal Heart, as did all the Crystal ponies, in a trance.
The Heart fired, and filled Berry with a joy and a sense of belonging.
For just a second, she saw Sombra exploding, and part of her wondered why she hadn't brought her concerns up sooner. She was right: this magic made her feel at home in the Crystal Empire, it filled her with the sense of belonging in this land and of community, but more than that, of power. There was power in the Crystal ponies, in their sense of identity and love and harmony. It was powerful magic, powerful enough to smite anything that wasn't part of the Empire.
Friends of the Empire were filled with joy. Enemies of the Empire were destroyed without a single thought or hesitation.
And it was glorious.
Every Crystal pony got their sparkle back. The realm was safe.
Berry looked up at a now pink shape dangling from above.
Snap!
The filly fell, Berry braced herself.
A dull thud, the air knocked out of her, and that strained back of hers cracking against the crystal pavement.
Something warm in her arms, something that was breathing for the first time in a thousand years.
The sound of hooves on the ground, moving away from her. No one even saw her lying there, all eyes were on Cadence and the Heart.
A sharp pain in her back, a dull throb in her head.
Then darkness.
"Ow, my back..." Berry groaned as she came to.
"Berryshine, thank goodness," Onyx said. "She's okay, everyone."
"Oh, wha... what happened?"
One of the nearby stallions extended a hoof to help her up. "That boy dragon saved our realm. We never even got a chance to ask his name."
"Spike. His name is Spike," Berry said.
"Ah. Fitting name for a hero. Short, powerful."
Berry winced and rubbed her back. Then she noticed she was see-through and sparkling. Her hair felt different, too. "I didn't die, did I?"
"Hmm? Oh, no, that's the Crystal Heart's magic. It's temporary, don't worry. It looks good on you, " Onyx remarked.
Berry was inclined to agree, though she did wonder if there wasn’t some law against changing ponies’ species without their consent. Did Crystal ponies count as a different species? With all the weird breeding pairs in Ponyville, it was hard to keep track of that sort of thing. There were also more pressing concerns to voice. "Where are all the kids?"
Onyx nodded to the farms in the distance. "They are safe, all of them. Including the ones on the pedestals. They're all being rounded up now. We didn't miss anyone.”
"Where are the Elements of Harmony?"
Onyx nodded towards the road leading to the tundra and the train station. "Leaving already, unfortunately. Princess Cadence and Prince Shining Armour are seeing them off. I don’t think they even saw us."
"And that last one?"
"I am fine, Miss. Thank you," a voice piped up behind her.
Onyx chuckled. "Berryshine, it is my pleasure to introduce: Princess Skyla, of the Crystal Empire."
Berry turned. Before her stood the tiniest and most adorable little royal she'd ever seen. A bright pink, blue-eyed, and see-through like the other Crystal ponies, Skyla stood out from the crowd by virtue of her horn and wings. Skyla was an alicorn. Berryshine had saved the life of an alicorn. "Hi there, Your Highness."
"Art thou a champion from a distant nation?" The little one asked.
Berry caught herself staring at the girl, but that didn't do anything to stop her. "No. Just a regular commoner mare from the country right below this one."
The girl smiled. "Then we are pleased to have awoken to an age where heroism such as yours is common."
Berryshine tried to get up, but the stinging in the middle of her back wouldn't relent. She could barely feel her legs. "Ah, I think I overdid it a little bit."
"We shall have to see to your treatment," Skyla said.
"That can wait, there's still some stuff to work out. There's another Princess here, and a Prince, Your Highness. Someone's going to have to take care of the place."
"Let the Equestrian pair do it, if they wish," Skyla said. "We can work out the specifics of succession when I come of age.”
"Speaking of which, Berryshine," Onyx whispered, "I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell anypony there was another Crystal Princess."
"Oh?"
"I believe what my loyal subject is trying to say, is: we have been gone for a long time. We have lost much, and it will take a new ruler to set things in order. I can only assume the ponies here all agree that it should be Cadence to take the throne, at least for now?"
All of the Crystal ponies nodded.
What a day this was for Berryshine. There she was, witness to a peaceful resolution of what could have been a very bloody -- but no doubt elegant and adorable -- battle over succession, mere minutes after seeing an ancient tyrant be obliterated by the Magic of Nationalism.
Not only that, but she’d taken a good dose of that magic herself, enough to make her look like a native.
Apparently nationalism beams were the natural precursor to rainbow lasers in terms of military advances. Thinking on it, she wasn't all too surprised, really, it explained a lot.
"Your secret is safe with me, Princess Skyla."
"Thank you, Berryshine. Now, the spa treatment."
"I really don't need any treatment, Your Highness, in fact, I shouldn't even be here. I was just on my way to take a holiday break."
"Good. You can take it with us, then. Though I fear we still have rebuilding to do, I'm sure we can spare some pony power to see to your back injury."
"There's really no need, honestly, I'll just be off and-"
"Excuse me?"
Berry froze, partly because of the sharp pain shooting through her neck and back, partly because of the sheer depth of the voice speaking. It was warm, and carried with it the vague sense of a rumbling thunder.
"Rudolph the Red, always a pleasure." Skyla trotted up to what turned out to be a monumental reindeer buck and threw her arms over his neck.
"Princess Skyla, it's been too long. My deepest condolences for thine family. We did all we could, I swear."
"I know, Rudolph, I know. Father told me about Sombra's transgressions into your lands. Still, good to see a familiar face at last. How has the world been in our absence?"
"Not a lot of news, honestly. The demons have been driven back, Discord went mad with power, oh, and there are some new Princesses in charge of the Epona colonies, I think you might have caught a glimpse of them by now. Celestia and Luna, they're called. Lovely ladies, both of them, though between you and me, Luna has a bit of a temper sometimes."
Berry wasn't sure what to make of this. Honestly, she felt that she ought to know who this Rudolph character was, and why he was called 'the Red' if not a single part of his coat was ginger. Not only that, but he was older than Luna and Celestia? And Skyla was already showing signs of authority, when she couldn’t have been older than Onyx’s daughter.
If only she'd known who these characters were, she might have been less confused and more impressed.
Seemed to be a recurring theme today.
"I have not seen them yet, no," Skyla replied.
"Ah, you will. And in the meantime, if there is anything I or my reindeer brethren can do for your Empire, you need only ask. We are ever loyal to the Crystal ponies."
"Thank you. And, actually, there is one favour I should like to ask at the moment."
"Name it, Your Highness."
Skyla gestured towards Berry. "This is Miss Berryshine. She helped save the children of our beloved Empire, including myself."
Rudolph looked down at the mare. His deep, dark eyes stared into her very soul, like he’d been plucked straight out of one of the naughty romance books Twilight Sparkle liked to pretend her library didn’t have. "Really? Strange, I thought I knew all the Elements of Harmony. I distinctly recall the pink one having a lighter coat, and different hair."
Berry cowered under the titanic buck's gaze. "I'm not an Element, Your Highness, sir. I just got on the wrong train."
Rudolph hrmmed. "I see. Might I inquire where the right train was heading?"
"S-Santa Fell?"
"Say no more. Knights?"
Berry found herself flanked by two burly bucks with shaggy coats and giant antlers, and both adorned with armour that looked like it had come right from the Royal Guard.
"Ah, careful, careful." Berry winced in pain.
Then she felt their touch. Split hooves, with little edges to better press into her flesh, and a soothing, glowing warmth that flowed through her fur and into her muscles.
"My knights are all trained in the healing arts, Miss Berry. You sit back now, and we shall accommodate you as befits a friend to the royal family of the Crystal Empire."
Berryshine was in heaven as she was lifted onto a stretcher, her saddlebag with drinks set beside her, and shortly after she was literally in heaven, carted away by the flying reindeer with Rudolph the Red flying beside her.
She barely heard Onyx say she'd come visit her in Santa Fell. Fatigue was starting to catch up with her.
"Whu-what time is it? The sun's still up so high, but the day's been so..."
"Arctic North, Miss Berryshine," Rudolph said. "You caught us in a long day."
"Right... a really, really long day. I’ve got so many things to ask, so much that needs doing."
"Rest up, and worry not about your questions or your duties, we shall make every arrangement. When you wake, you shall be tended to and pampered as you deserve. A friend of the Empire is a friend to reindeer."
Berry did just as she was told.
After all, she was on a holiday now.
And after a day like that, no one would deny that she deserved it.
The end.
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What? This only got a lukewarm reception?
This is fantastic stuff! Definitely in the top 20 stories I've read on this site, and that's saying something considering my favorite list is over 250 stories. I will be looking out for whatever comes next.
But seriously, this was an amazing story. Just the right length, full of interesting characters and great behind-the-scenes adventure. Fantastic.
I liked how you stayed true as much as possible to the episode yet at the same time worked out a few of the wrinkles. Two thumbs up.
6638450
Thanks! I was worried about some of the details, but it was fun to write. One of my attempts to try and capture show look and feel.
I just read this fic in one go and I have to say: I like it.
The story fits really well into the original episode while filling a bunch of plot holes with interesting head canon. Other plot holes are just flat out pointed out with a nice bit of humor while maintaining the seriousness of the story.
I like stories like this, where the Mane6 still do their canon thing and save the day and all that but behind the scenes plays out another hero story. Berry gets into that whole situation by sheer bad luck but the goodness in her heart as well as the common sense of a level headed pony gets her to identify the problem and guides her to the solution. We get the sense of urgency and seriousness such a situation presents while the story doesn't take itself too seriously. Berry becomes a hero in the silent background and gets her reward in the end: Vacation.
It was a fun read. I had my chuckles, I had my gasps and I got a nice somewhat-twist at the end there.
Now what I didn't like: (I am no native english speaker so either I don't see grammar and spelling errors or I just don't care enough, so none of that.)
The story follows Berry exclusively including leaving out pieces where she is asleep.
But it swaps to Cadence's point of view for a bit after she send Berry away to fetch chocolate oil. It does that without warning or transition. Literally one paragraph we get to know Berrys thoughts and the next there are Cadence's. It caught me by surprise and took me out of the experience a little. I can see why you did that, it gave us a bit of perspective on what Cadence's position was in that entire spectacle. That is all well and good but the POV switches so suddenly and without an explanation. I am no writer, so take that with a grain of salt, but I didn't like how that switch was handled and am not sure if it was really necessary.
The second time the POV switches is when Quartz Leaf learns of his wife and daughter. It starts after a break where a scene cut was necessary anyways and ends with the chapter's end. So it basically happens in a "closed environment", I like that better. It gives us an idea how Leaf's love for Onyx is strong enough to exist beyond his memory of her. It also gives us a bit of insight of how the crystal ponies get their spark back. Again I could question if it was necessary from a story stand point but in my opinion it was handled better and made for a more interesting description then just the two mares running up to him and handing over the filly all the while trying to explain his internal realization with just what Berry sees and thinks.
Again I like the second one better, but that might just be personal taste.
As things are I like the fic and I think it's sad that it got so little attention. Have a like and a fav. Would (and will) read again.
MfG NIchtraucher
6688305
Thanks very much for the feedback. The points you mentioned in spoiler markings were things I worried about, for the very reasons you mentioned. Basically I wanted to know whether it worked or whether it broke the fic entirely. And since it turned out okay overall, I think it worked, but it's not something to repeat too often.
One thing I like to keep in mind is that stories are defined by both their good and their bad traits. Experimental stuff like that helps determine which is which.
The Crystal Empire doesn't get enough love, I find. Crystal ponies especially.
Ha very clever Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer nice
Wow that was pretty intense so Berry Punch and onyx search everywhere for the kids and the rebels statues and they searched high and low for every statues they look like they're about to fall down and it once they got all of them down they had for the central but what they found is Spike got the crystal heart but what catches Berry punches eyes there was one more statue that is strapped up by a robe and it turns out that is one of the princess name Skyla ( which I'm going to have to treat this as an alternate universe story because you know ) but once she got there it looks like Cadence got the crystal heart and activated and all the crystal ponies activate their magic power and King Sombra is no more and it looks like somebody fall on Berry Punch passing heart to blackout after all the exhaustion after she's awake some of the crystal ponies including Skylar thank Berry Punch for saving them and but later there was a couple of deers showed up and basically taking Berry Punch in their care after all she really deserve a well vacation after what she's been through this was a pretty nice Story of Berry Punch keep up the good work