Dawn of Crystal Empire

by TopWanted

Twilight/Rarity - Chapter 23

Twilight rushed into the lab with Rainbow Dash, panic taking over as she saw her friend splayed across the table. Princess Luna was emitting some kind of aura spell from her horn but stopped to turn to the other alicorn. The rest of the ponies in the room turned as well. Cadence and Shining Armor stood to the side, watching Luna work. Shining with his hoof over his wife’s shoulder. They both shared a grim expression. To the side, Applejack and Wit sat in a corner. Applejack trying to both worry over Fluttershy and fuss over an injury Wit had on his forehead. Wit tried to shrug the help off. Quill and Capper stood next to Princess Luna, his eyes never leaving Fluttershy’s prone form. Twilight approached.

“Just what happened?” she asked apprehensively. “Rainbow Dash told me Fluttershy collapsed! Princess Luna do you know what’s wrong?”

Luna frowned and resumed her aura spell, bathing Fluttershy with a faint blue light. Capper mewed sullenly next to her. “Unfortunately I do.” Twilight frowned in confusion. “Mr. Quill told me that she was coughing quite hard this morning so I did an x ray spell to see what was wrong.” She stopped the bombardment of light and sighed. “It’s her lungs. They’ve begun to petrify.”

Twilight’s face lost all color. “Petrify? But… But Fluttershy isn’t a Crystal Pony, how can she be affected by what’s going on?”

“Twilight Sparkle,” Luna spoke authoritatively. “We still have no idea just what is going on. For all we know any of us could be affected.”

“I have a theory,” Cadence spoke up and drew the attention of the crowd. Her face was gaunt as if consumed by guilt. “The urn. It’s gone but the dust isn’t. What if all this petrification started because the dust got loose?”

Twilight tried to follow her sister’s chain of logic. “If that’s true, Fluttershy was there at ground zero.”

Cadence nodded, her eyes full of sadness. “We all breathed in that cloud of dust, maybe it just works slower on non-crystal ponies.”

“But that doesn’t make any sense,” Twilight argued, her eyes growing wide. “We were all there! It should affect us too!”

Cadence’s head lowered even further. “We’re alicorns, Twilight. Our immunity to such things like curses is stronger than a pegasus’.” Cadence grit her teeth as tears formed in her eyes. “Either way it’s all my fault. My kingdom. My friends. If I just hadn’t gone down there in the first place.”

Twilight walked over to Cadence’s side and hugged her close. “You’re not to blame. I found it. This is my responsibility.” She drew back and looked at her motionless friend. Tears welled up. “Fluttershy shouldn’t suffer for something I did.”

Rainbow Dash watched this play out from afar, her eyes centered on Fluttershy. Twilight noticed the cyan pegasus’ gaunt stare and frown. The two had known each other longer than any of them. No telling what Rainbow Dash thought of all this.

Quill spoke up, “Did you manage to stop the spread, Princess?” he asked Luna.

Luna nodded solemnly. “For now. However, as I said before, this magic is ancient even to me. I cannot tell if my spell will hold. Fluttershy will need to be watched twenty four seven for any changes.”

“I can do it,” Rainbow lifted her hoof in the air. “I’ll watch Fluttershy.”

“We can all take turns, darling,” a female voice appeared from the corridor and Twilight turned to see Rarity walking in with Pinkie Pie in tow. “Fluttershy is dear to all of us.” Pinkie Pie ran to her friend on the table, her usual cheery demeanor all but gone.

“I’ll take a shift or two as well,” Wit said as he approached the table with Applejack, the cowpony looking slightly guiltily at his back.

“And I as well,” Quill replied solemnly. “Miss Fluttershy is indeed in dire straits and needs all the support she can get. However what disturbs me even moreso is Princess Cadence’s theory. If it’s true and the dust is the catalyst then I’m afraid we may all be in danger.” He used his magic to pull back a curtain letting in a small ray of light. The room stared at the light in silence as tiny motes danced through the air around it. “Dust can get everywhere quite fast. No doubt we’ve all breathed in a little of the stuff.”

Twilight shuddered. Even more of her friends were in danger. “So what you’re saying is we’re all on a time limit,” Shining Armor asked.

“Essentially, yes,” Luna replied. “It may take longer for the dust to affect me, Cadence and Twilight, if it affects us at all. But for you ponies it’s a different story. We have no way to determine when it will affect you.”

A long moment of silence passed. Twilight paced with worry. “Princess Luna, how soon can you get word to Celestia? I think we’ve reached the point of no return.”

Luna’s face grew somber. “My sister is not needed,” she snapped. “I simply need a little bit more time and I can fix this. I can fix everything!” The ponies in the room backed away slightly at the sudden change of tone. Luna noticed the change and cast her gaze at the ground guiltily. “I… I’m sorry. Please just give me another day.”

Twilight stared at the Princess’s pitiable look and succumbed. “Alright. But don’t hesitate to ask for our help.” She turned to grab Quill. “You. You’re with me.”

Quill stumbled as he was pulled magically by the collar of his vest into the hallway. Rainbow shouted to them as they walked away, “I’ll take the first watch!”

Twilight continued to drag Quill at a quick pace even as he began to keep up with her. “Princess,” he coughed. “Do you think you could relinquish…”

“Huh,” Twilight replied, having been too focused to notice. “Oh, sorry!” She disengaged her telekinetic grip and Quill took a deep breath of relief as he straightened his collar.

“Phew,” he exhaled. He turned his gaze to Twilight who had begun to tap her hoof impatiently. “I know you’re in a hurry, Princess, but haven’t you heard the expression ‘good things come to those who wait’?”

Twilight’s eyes shot open. “How can you be so cool about this!? You might be turned to stone in the next hour or minute or second! I don’t even know how I would react!? And my friends! What do they think of me after all this? I brought them here! I put them in danger!” She began to hyperventilate. “I’m the one who brought Fluttershy down into that room.” Her last words were muffled behind a cry as tears began to flow freely from her eyes. Instinctively she grabbed a hold of Quill and hugged him close as she sobbed into his vest.

Quill stiffened slightly at the sudden display of affection but soon receded into a more comfortable position. He paced a hoof around the distraught princess and patted her lightly. “It’s not your fault,” he whispered.

“Yes it is,” Twilight cried. “It’s all my fault. I just… If I hadn’t…”

Quill put a hoof to her chin and gently raised her face to be eye to eye with his. Twilight noticed his bright emerald eyes through his glasses. He smiled warmly at her. “Everypony here made the choice to be here. Either to help a friend, defend a country, or even… to help a princess.” He trailed off slightly at his last example. “Any way you put it we are all here for noble reasons. It’s what we chose, not you. Our choices are ours alone, you can’t blame fate or yourself for that.” His smile diminished but still seemed to give off the same warmth. Twilight couldn’t help but smile as well, pulling back and blushing at her proximity to the stallion. “Regardless,” he continued. “A friend is in need of our aid and we wouldn’t be proper ponies if we didn’t do everything a couple of scholars like us could do to help her.” He winked playfully.

Twilight gave a small chuckle and took a deep breath. She felt a little better. “You’re right. Let’s start on the translation as quickly as possible. Follow me to my room.”

Twilight began to trot off as Quill’s body went rigid again and his face grew red. “Y- Your r-r-room?” The proper pony took a gulp before shaking his head to get the dirty thoughts out. He quickly ran after her.

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Rarity was beside herself with worry. Now three friends had succumbed to whatever was going on with the Crystal Empire. Slowly but surely, Rarity could feel her previous fascination with this place disappear, replacing itself with misery and fear. She feared for her life. She feared for her friends’ lives. And Fluttershy, poor Fluttershy. If anypony deserved this it certainly wasn’t Fluttershy. She had known the mare for years, regarding her as a sister. Fluttershy babysat for Sweetie Belle! What would Sweetie think if she had to tell her sister something had happened to her? Rarity could only feel cold as all these thoughts swirled around in her head. Pinkie took notice.

“Are you alright, Rarity?” she asked.

Rarity shook her head to clear it and cleared her throat. “I… I’m fine, Pinkie Pie. Just… Just a little worried.”

Pinkie’s hair sunk and her expression fell. “I know what you mean.” She tried to give a brightened smile but it came off disingenuous. “But I’m sure Fluttershy will be alright! After all, we’ve gotten out of every mess we’ve ever had. Why would this be any different?”

Rarity frowned. Certainly the six had accomplished many great things and lived to tell about it. But what was going on here seemed much bigger than anything they’d dealt with before. They’d fought monsters and villains but now they fought for the preservation of an entire race. The sheer enormity of it made Rarity shiver. She took one last look at Fluttershy on the table before she turned her eyes and began to walk out. “I’m… going to go out and get some fresh air.”

“Oh, okay,” Pinkie replied. “I’ll come with you.”

“No,” Rarity almost shouted. “No, Pinkie. I… just want to be alone for now.”

Pinkie stepped back with hesitation, her face clearly showing her surprise and grief. “Alright, Rarity.” Rarity nodded and walked away from the dining room.

Rarity did not know why she wanted to be alone. At times like this it was best to be together with family or friends to be comforted. Pinkie was right that they had accomplished so much together, but the six hadn’t truly been together since they got here. Rarity could feel a cold hardness forming around her heart. A little nagging voice in the back of her head telling her to be alone. She looked at the ground as she walked.

I don’t want to push away my friends, she thought. So why do I feel so alone? Rarity turned back towards the dining room. Perhaps it wasn’t too late to go back, spend more time with Pinkie and the others. She didn’t notice how far she had gone as she walked into the hallway of her and the others’ rooms. Rarity glanced around and sighed. Perhaps she just needed to take her mind off things. She had brought a sewing kit with her to the Empire, maybe she could make a quick scarf to pass the time. It was getting chillier in the air and that mist outside hadn’t dissipated yet.

Rarity opened the door to her room to find it cleaner than when she left it. She had been spending most of the week in the infirmary with Spike and Flash so she hadn’t had any need to go back here. She noticed that the only untidy thing was her bed, which a member of staff was turning down.

“Thank you for your help,” Rarity smiled somberly. “But I can take care of that.” The staff had her back turned to her and she didn’t move. In fact the pony seemed to be simply frozen in place like a… “Oh no.”

Rarity rushed forward and turned the pony around. Surprisingly the crystal pony was still conscious, her skin still the slightest bit vibrant. But her eyes were glazed over, looking at something that was far away. “Are you alright?” Rarity asked nervously. She held the pony by the shoulders.

Suddenly Rarity noticed it. It started at the pony’s legs. Like color draining from her, a cool stone gray began to overtake her faster than Rarity had expected. Within seconds it was up to her chest. Rarity’s eyes widened and she tried to shake her. “Wake up! You’ve got to wake up!” she shouted. The stone reached finished with her tail. In a last ditch effort Rarity tried to slap the pony awake, delivering a swift hoof to her cheek. The pony’s eyes widened slightly, still glazed over, but her expression changed. Her eyes settled on Rarity as the stone crept up her neck. She breathed a final, almost incoherent, phrase before the stone overtook her. “Hearts as cold as stone.”

Rarity watched as the pony’s face became frozen, her eyes centered on Rarity. It looked almost like pleading with her to help. Rarity felt her eyes begin to water and tears soon followed. She knelt by the statue and cried.

Author's Note:

Just to let you guys know I do welcome feedback. I may be writing this primarily for exercise but I do love the story I have in mind and want to make it better. Let me know what you think.