Crystalline: Her Destiny

by Ice Star

Chapter 3: Snarky Necklaces Go Out Of Style

Even after the train pulled into Canterlot Station I decided not to doubt myself, or at least not out loud. I was actually going to go through with all this ubsurdity! Hopefully without dying or being driven mad by constantly wondering if Sombra is staring at me with his not-exactly-friendly red eyes. It's like all the eye color of each and every fairy tale horror from my foalhood were merged into one set before being bestowed upon Sombra so he might sassily roll them to everything I say.

I was only reminded of his presence due to the fact that he was literally at my throat as a necklace and that I wasn't going to just stroll into the castle and give him to Auntie Celestia with a big smile on my face like any sane pony would do, because five minutes with Sombra is enough for me to kiss such a concept good-bye, wonder if mid-life crisis is coming early, and realize that none of us are princesses because we are sane. At this point, sanity is only a concept that I posess any vague knowledge of. Twilight and both my Aunties are many times more eccentric than I.

I just hope that I'm making the right choice in choosing not to give him up to somepony who could handle him better. I mean, surely Auntie Celestia can handle Sombra more skillfully than I could? He's a tyrant. A tyrant who I'm going to have to work with in order to protect innocent ponies.

Thankfully, I had a dash of good luck when nopony noticed the alicorn princess and the necklace. Wow... I really hadn't expected that, and was able to hurry off to the Archives unoticed.

What kind of resources will we need? I asked him.

The necklace/tyrant gave a sigh inaudible to pony ears.

Pre-Equestrian things. Obscure history books that detail things before your country formed and before Celestia...

Celestia? What?! I queried, surprisingly intrigued. Perhaps this would be something even Twilight didn't know!

The necklace gulped a bit as I walked to the archive wing of the castle. Maybe he was worried about guards?

Before… she banished me. You and I are going to be looking for things written by ponies who lived before Celestia banished me and sealed me away in the Arctic. I'm not going to say anymore about those events.

Don’t forget about Princess Luna! I added. She was there too.

Believe me, he began, I haven't forgotten about the younger one.

You must really hate her. I mused.

Quickly he added, You misinterpret things. I hate Celestia for more than one reason, whereas I barely know anything about Luna, since she was the lesser known sister. Wasn't she?

He had a point, even when she was in the history books, Auntie Luna was often overlooked... sometimes reduced to a mere footnote. Even I wasn't sure if she was real or a fairy tale until Auntie Celestia told me.

Oh… I thought since she helped banish you… never mind.

I stopped myself and pondered this a moment.

Just how old are you, then? You know, since you were sealed in ice and everything.

Really? He asked, oozing sarcasm mixed with surprise. Out of everything you could possibly ask me, all you want to know is how many candles to place on those ridiculous birth-anniversary pastries if one were to be given to me? You really don't want to hear how to overthrow other ponies or something?

I think I'm just going to ignore that he just bad mouthed birthday cakes... that or he doesn't quite know what they are since if I just toss everything else I know of him and go off what he's showing me he's pretty affably evil since I haven't seen him try to slaughter anypony yet.

Yes.

Another annoyed sigh. Counting my banishment?

Again, yes.

Okay, then I’m 1,123.

Since you seem to know them from the old days, could you explain how Celestia and Luna’s aging work? It's not exactly polite to ask, and I'm not an expert on immortal goddesses. Plus, you're far from polite.

So it's only now that you decide to interrogate me?! What makes you think I'll comply? You just called me old. I'm not old.

I giggled softly. How'd this drama queen ever become a tyrant? It's only the nagging in the back of my mind and my better judgement that's reminding me of such. You're not that old, I promise!

I caught him mumbling something about hypocritical candy golems under his breath before he finally decided to 'speak' clearly again.

Ugh. Fine. Maybe.

Come on, tell me!

Alright, alright. Celestia is around 3,500 years old and Luna is anywhere from 300-500 years younger. I wasn't exactly there when they were born. Celestia would have been close to a very young foal's age - what are they called again?

Do you mean a toddler?

Yes, that. She'd have been the equivalent of a three year old when Luna was born. Toddler. Whatever. True Alicorns age slowly and after they are 18 or older they will stop aging physically for eternity and settle down at what is call an ‘equivalent’, which is their eternal age equivalent to a mortal. They also will never grow any bigger after 18 although maturity and intelligence are a different story, which I don't know. In your case, mortal alicorns don't live past 1,100 years since you aren't exactly real Alicorns and don't even as how long candy golems like yourself-

What do you mean I'm not-

Are you immortal?

No...

Well that's the easiest way to tell. Don't expect me to tell you everything I know.

I was still astounded. What are Celestia and Luna's ‘equivalents’? How do you know this?

This proves my point, you are interrogating me. No more questions from here until later. He grumbled.

He resumed muttering to himself, this time it sounded like math from what I was able to hear. Okay, answer to question one; Luna would be about 19. Celestia is 32, give or take a year or two. Just so you don't ask, take off the 1,100 years and you have my age. Now on to question two. I will keep this rather… personal… question simple. I have studied magic, Alicorns, history, and more. There. That's all your getting from me.

Thanks. I said.

My turn, Princess.

Hmmm?! What was he going to do now?

Behold my questions, pink one, he snickered. You only look to be about seventeen but I don't believe that stallion who threw you at me was your brother. So exactly how old are you? Who were those peons from the, ah, opening debut?

That was all he wanted to know? Not some arcane secret for more power or how to become a ‘mortal alicorn’?

Okay… first thing is first, I’m twenty-one, not seventeen. Few ponies, if any, would get married at that age. Shining Armor, my husband, whose horn you inlaid with magic blocking crystals is twenty-two and his little sister Twilight Sparkle, the purple unicorn, is the one who is seventeen. Her friends are all around that age as well, give or take a few months from each, except for Fluttershy, the yellow pegasus, who is nineteen. Spike the dragon-

Don't remind me, he grumbled.

-is 10, so he's a baby compared to everypony else.

At that moment as I was still walking through the castle to try to find the archive wing, I bumped straight into a pony. That pony was Princess Luna, who, nothing against her, hopefully had somewhere better to be at the moment and didn't possess the secret ablilty to detect sassiness somewhere in her arsenal of goddess powers. When she saw me, her turquoise eyes went wide with surprise and curiosity.

“What art… you… doing here?” Luna asked, still somewhat stoic in her demeanor. Although I noticed her small slip-up—she'd almost said an archaic term. Sometimes she still did that. At least she had tried to correct her mistake, even if it had made a mish-mashed sentence.

“I’m here to see if there are any good arctic maps… I’m going on a camp out.” I said, beaming convincingly. I'm wishing for no camping though, since I doubt King Sombra is any fun. He'll probably try to kill me when I sleep if I'm not careful.

Right then I noticed my necklace growing hot, like somepony was trying to slowly cook it. Oh gods he can hear me, can't he? Hiding the pain best I could, I could, I listened to Luna’s reply without my smile faltering.

“There are some arctic maps in the Tribe section of the Pre-Equestrian section, among the Tribal artifacts. Very few arctic maps are recent, depending on how far north you will go for your trip.”

She eyed my necklace.

“That pendant… it is not your usual attire; where did you get it?”

“I made it.”

Not a lie. Woo-hoo honesty!

Luna nodded sagely before speaking. "It is a nice piece."

The necklace was worse now, it felt like it was on the brink of burning my coat off, so I removed it – much to Sombra’s disagreement due to the sudden string of curses he issued – and shoved it in with my provisions.

“Here,” Luna said, “let me show you to the Tribal section, you seem quite lost.”

“Thank you.” I smiled.

“Why did you remove your necklace?” She inquired.

“Ohh… I wanted to put it away so I don’t… lose it among the relics. After all, it is supposed to look vintage.”

She nodded but said nothing else the whole time, since even though Luna was friendly, she was still more introverted than Auntie Celestia. I just hope I didn't deter her from something important.

All the while, the necklace still burned and created such a horrible – yet thankfully undamaging – heat in my saddlebags. At least my grimace was convincing.

…

When we arrived, Luna said a curt good bye and left us in front of a wooden door with two archive guards and a plaque that read:

Pre-Equestrian Section
Number Three:
Tribal Era
Authorized Ponies Only

The guards nodded and performed an anti-changeling spell, casting it on me before I entered.This kind of spell was 100% effective for detecting changelings in disguise but could easily miss other things. Thus, it skipped over Sombra.

I stepped inside the room cluttered with books, maps, scrolls, relics, and every other kind of knowledge from the time period. I'd guess that they're just as old as Sombra, who I honestly thought would be twice my age but no, he's practically a college student. A college student who over threw and empire and majored in tyranny.

I cast a noise blocking spell on the door as it closed, because unfortunately, I would need Sombra’s help, and not as an extra-crispy-cooking necklace, but as the annoying jerk he is.

Author's Note:

I hope no one minds the pink text I used for Cady, since I wanted to highlight who was speaking in case someone had any difficulties with context alone, and I do this in a few other stories in order to lessen the confusion that could spring from telepathic chatting. Hopefully the soft pink is better than the red I use to represent Sombra in other works because putting both here would be overkill, so I decided just to use the pink.

Comments

[Lunara]

I like this so far, you're a great author, but I really don't understand why Cadence would believe Sombra about any of this. To me it seems like this might be an elaborate plan to get inside Canterlot and blow it up as revenge against the Princesses.

[Zenith Sparkle]

Getting better, as predicted! Well done. Pick a tense though.

As for lore—YAY LORE! Alicorn aging concept is fascinating. It's strange that you say Cadance is not a real alicorn, and thus is not immortal. I know that one of the up-top people on the show (may have been McCarthy?) said Twilight wouldn't outlive her friends just because she's an alicorn, but I feel it would make more sense that Celestia, being the mighty goddess of sunlight that she is, would be able to grant immortality, especially considering she's granted two mares alicorn powers. Just me speculating. Good chapter.

[ClockworkMage]

Ugh, teenager mane six. No thanks.

[I Wrote A Story Once]

That pony was Princess Luna, who, nothing against her, hopefully had somewhere better to be at the moment and didn't possess the secret ablilty to detect sassiness somewhere in her arsenal of goddess powers.

That'd be one hell of a spell to know.

[I Wrote A Story Once]

8197638
I take it you're not a fan of EQG?

[CoffeeBean]

Oooh yeah, backstory. Damn good backstory, at that. I found it odd how young Luna is. How was she born a full 300 years later? i assume your headcanon is that their parents are alicorns?

[Ice Star]

8734898

I found it odd how young Luna is.

I've always found Luna to appear and act far younger than Celestia - an even more youthful appearance than most ponies and lots of emotion-based choices made her feel far younger than Celestia, and her sense of moodiness, too. It seemed o fit a young adult better than an older individual.

i assume your headcanon is that their parents are alicorns?

Yeppers! There's lots of backstory on them too!

[MayhemMoth]

Huh, the whole age thing intrigues me. I've never thought too hard about it myself, and would usually just throw in a human equivalent as a guesstimation, but I'd always imagined the Mane 6 to be in their early to mid 20s depending on the season. Them being teenagers is something pretty different, though I guess if you compare it to their EG counterparts it makes sense. I always did find it odd that an adult would turn into a teenager, and though Sunset still has no excuse since she'd likely be older than Twilight, that's off topic, so let's ignore that.

There are some thoughts about the age gaps though, like Celestia and Luna's equivalent age gap seems a bit odd, but maybe that's just the ages they stopped aging at? I'd wonder if Luna's banishment had anything to do with her seeming younger, and that she might 'age' further, but Sombra wouldn't know about her banishment, would he?

Speaking of Sombra though, him being in his 23 is something you don't see often, usually he's portrayed as older. But of course, I for one enjoy it, and it certainly makes me feel better about my own thoughts on the matter, because even if I haven't addressed it yet, I actually make my own Sombra around the same age, if not a bit younger.

Rambled a bit there, but hey, world building is always fun.

[Ice Star]

10092210

Them being teenagers is something pretty different, though I guess if you compare it to their EG counterparts it makes sense. I always did find it odd that an adult would turn into a teenager, and though Sunset still has no excuse since she'd likely be older than Twilight, that's off topic, so let's ignore that.

It's a bit of a nod to horses being mature at six years of age, too. With horses maturing younger, people generally being considered adults around 18, the Mane Six all dipping their hooves into young adulthood (but Twilight still as a student and such), and fantasy worlds generally leaning on practices like apprenticeships and the like, it only felt fair to think their world would have different aging laws.

There are some thoughts about the age gaps though, like Celestia and Luna's equivalent age gap seems a bit odd, but maybe that's just the ages they stopped aging at?

That would be correct.

I'd wonder if Luna's banishment had anything to do with her seeming younger, and that she might 'age' further, but Sombra wouldn't know about her banishment, would he?

He would not; his banishment came before her banishment and Discord. Though, Tirek came before Sombra. And since it isn't a spoiler, I can confirm Luna's banishment had nothing to do with why she's young. Luna just reeks of young adulthood, both in-universe and out of it. Even if you look at the general archetype of young adulthood in psychology and culture, she fits the conflicts pretty well. That aside, she also just as the general "seems much younger" vibe. From the myth perspective, she totes the Maiden to Celestia's Matron thing, y'know?

psychologydiscussion.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/clip_image002.jpg
Example of the weird psych stuff I was rambling about. Luna fits adolescence and early adulthood really well. I was even to find the right model; it's Erik Erikson's!

Speaking of Sombra though, him being in his 23 is something you don't see often, usually he's portrayed as older.

I know, right? Kinda makes me wonder why. Is it purely because he's a king? Do people not realize how young many new kings were in history?

But of course, I for one enjoy it, and it certainly makes me feel better about my own thoughts on the matter, because even if I haven't addressed it yet, I actually make my own Sombra around the same age, if not a bit younger.

I look forwards to seeing that explored.

Rambled a bit there, but hey, world building is always fun.

Be prepared for much, much, MUCH more.

[RoyalBardofCanterlot]

Interesting. I hope Sombra's being honest. I love how cavalier Cadence is about all this. Sombra's so sassy it's fun.

[RoyalBardofCanterlot]

7552153
Cadence is nice and nice people think everyone else is nice too.

[Kaleido]

I caught him mumbling something about hypocritical candy golems under his breath before he finally decided to 'speak' clearly again.

"hypocritical candy golem" is an amazing phrase.

Behold my questions, pink one , he snickered. You only look to be about seventeen but I don't believe that stallion who threw you at me was your brother. So exactly how old are you? Who were those peons from the, ah, opening debut?

ah i love being reminded of wife javelin
such a great scene

“I made it.”

Not a lie. Woo-hoo honesty!

ah yes, 10/10 honesty, would recommend again

I stepped inside the room cluttered with books, maps, scrolls, relics, and every other kind of knowledge from the time period. I'd guess that they're just as old as Sombra, who I honestly thought would be twice my age but no , he's practically a college student. A college student who over threw and empire and majored in tyranny.

hehehe, majored in tyranny

[Kaleido]

10274267

Right then I noticed my necklace growing hot, like somepony was trying to slowly cook it. Oh gods he can hear me, can't he? Hiding the pain best I could, I could, I listened to Luna’s reply without my smile faltering.

also loved the whole scene with cadance trying *really hard* not to be noticed, while everyone around her isn't even the slightest bit suspicious in the first place

[Bicyclette]

At this point, sanity is only a concept that I posess any vague knowledge of. Twilight and both my Aunties are many times more eccentric than I.

yeah Cadance really is the sanest of the four Princesses, which must be a horrifying realization for her

He had a point, even when she was in the history books, Auntie Luna was often overlooked... sometimes reduced to a mere footnote. Even I wasn't sure if she was real or a fairy tale until Auntie Celestia told me.

oof, especially considering why Luna was supposed to become Nightmare Moon in the first place

I think I'm just going to ignore that he just bad mouthed birthday cakes... that or he doesn't quite know what they are since if I just toss everything else I know of him and go off what he's showing me he's pretty affably evil since I haven't seen him try to slaughter anypony yet.

Cadance taking offense on behalf of birthday cakes...

In your case, mortal alicorns don't live past 1,100 years since you aren't exactly real Alicorns and don't even as how long candy golems like yourself-

very intriguing bit at the end there! the true nature of Cadance?

Just so you don't ask, take off the 1,100 years and you have my age.

Sombra is only 23???!? that is disappointing

“That pendant… it is not your usual attire; where did you get it?”

“I made it.”

Not a lie. Woo-hoo honesty!

aww, love technical truths that are still misleading

I'd guess that they're just as old as Sombra, who I honestly thought would be twice my age but no, he's practically a college student. A college student who over threw and empire and majored in tyranny.

hooray i'm not the only one surprised by the Sombra age thing

Hopefully the soft pink is better than the red I use to represent Sombra in other works because putting both here would be overkill, so I decided just to use the pink.

love the pink; it's so fitting for Cady!