A Crystal Facade

by bahatumay

Chapter 4

All these thoughts came rushing back as I collapsed to the ground. I groaned and lifted my head. My whole body tingled. I had… I had been turned to stone. Twilight had turned me to stone.

Why, then, was I free? Had she set me free? Had I served a thousand years of penance and she had finally decided to let me go?

Perhaps she thought I could be reformed, as was Discord.

Even as my lungs ached for air, I couldn't help but chuckle at the thought. It came out as more of a raspy gargle, but chuckle I did. The blackness on my soul would not be purged so easily, I was certain of that.

I blinked a few times, letting my vision refocus. I ran a hoof through my mane, and knocked out the little piece of wood from my fight with Twilight. I cracked a smile, finding it odd that it had been petrified with me. Though it was dark out, I could soon make out a hoof in the grass directly front of me. The coat color, though… so familiar...

I looked up, and I couldn't help but smile in recognition. He was much taller than I remembered, but I knew him. After all, a mother never forgets the fruit of her womb.

“Garnet,” I whispered, struggling to my hooves. The destoning process made me feel tingly all over, but I was surprisingly not much worse for the wear. “My son. Look at you.” My smile turned into shaky laughter as I leaned in close to nuzzle him. I pulled back and glanced over him once more, pressing my hooves against his cheeks. “You've grown so big.”

He nodded, but even in the dim moonlight, I could see lines chiseled into his face that should not have been there. Stress lines. Something had happened. Something terrible.

Something had happened to my son.

I looked over to my left and reached out, expecting to see my daughter there as well; but I saw nopony. I blinked and set my hoof down. “Where's Ruby?” I asked.

Garnet looked down, and the corners of his mouth tightened downwards. “She… she was captured,” he answered.

“By whom?” I demanded. Who would hurt my daughter?

Who had the death wish, and how soon could I oblige them?

“Changelings.”

Changelings?! “Where’s Twilight?” I demanded, looking around as though I'd find her here, too.

“I don’t know. They’ve sealed off the Empire. Nothing can get in or out. I’ve tried sending messages, but I couldn’t. The barrier is too strong.”

I looked up where he was pointing, and saw a thick green translucent barrier. So they'd learned from their mistakes. Interesting. “Where’s Ruby? I'll find her. I'll rescue her.”

“She… she tried to fight,” he said. “They found her body. Her horn had been… been removed, and burns covered most of her body.”

I closed my eyes and took a shaky breath. My daughter… I turned back to Garnet. “Why didn't you get me sooner?” I demanded.

“I didn’t know,” he said, his voice rising in pitch. “I didn’t know what else to do! I couldn't help her, I couldn't find her; and it took me forever to find anything to destone you-”

I quickly pulled him into a hug and shushed him. “It's alright, Garnet,” I whispered, comforting him. “Mommy's here. Mommy can make it all better.“

Then I heard a familiar chattering sound, one I hadn’t heard in a long time. I looked up, and saw the blue, soulless eyes of a changeling, spying on us through the bushes. He turned, ready to flee, to make a report.

The magic came quickly, second nature to me once more. The purple magic burst from my horn and tore through the changeling, leaving in its wake a smoking hole the size of a grapefruit straight through its body, and through the trees behind it. It fell, dead before it even knew it.

“We can't stay here,” I murmured, turning back to Garnet. “It was patrolling. It will be missed and more will come to investigate. Take me to your headquarters. I'll make more arrangements from there.”

Garnet nodded. “Twilight… Twilight told me about when you faced changelings before. With my dad, Shining Armor.”

“That’s true,” I said. “The power of love won that day.”

Garnet nodded, slightly comforted. “But he’s… he’s not here anymore. What will you do instead?”

A dark smile crossed my face, and I pulled up the dark magic once more. “I’m sure I’ll think of something,” I murmured.