Crystal Note IV Memory comes at a cost

by TalkingToMyself

Arrival

Princess Luna took a sharp dive out of the evening sky towards the small town of Ponyville. Unconcerned she watched the ground coming closer and closer before she caught herself with a single flap of her dark blue wings and landed softly in front of a large tree house. This was the Golden Oak Library and the home of Equestria's newest Princess, Twilight Sparkle. Luna had been here before, visiting her sister's student when she was still a unicorn, she was familiar with the surroundings and the ponies whose attention she caught.

It was late in the evening and only a few citizens were on the streets watching her. Luna had come without an escort and didn't even wear any of royal regalia, but still ponies bowed when they saw her. With a nod of her head and a wave of her hoof she acknowledged their greeting and asked them to get up again. They did and went on with their usual routine when Luna remained silent. Those who stood close noticed a focused, if concerned expression on their Princess' face.
Luna gave herself another moment to gather the calmness she would need tonight, then she took the last step and knocked on the door.

Twilight Sparkle opened the door and they greeted each other like friends, then Luna was led into the main room. A few improvised beds had been set up, blankets spread out in front of the flickering fireplace and even some snacks provided by Ponyville's local party pony. It would have been a charming slumber party if it weren't for the sombre mood that filled the library.
On the far end of the room, near the stairs going up, Luna could see four ponies and a young dragon standing together. Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie were engaged in a whispered discussion while Rarity seemed to be reading a letter, her eyes bloodshot and telling Luna she'd done little else for a while now. Spike was nervously pacing up an down and Applejack just sat at the bottom of the stairs and looked up.

Luna followed Applejack's gaze and saw the dim light coming from the bedroom. Twilight sighed and nodded
"Fluttershy is with her right now. We didn't want to crowd her, she's been quite nervous ever since she arrived last night."
Luna nodded at looked concerned
"Understandably so, considering what she experienced in the Crystal Empire. It’s still hard to believe for myself, despite all the powerful magic I’ve seen all my life. I can only imagine how Crystal Note must feel.”
She recalled the words of Princess Cadence’ letter clearly. Her sister had called for her as soon as it arrived and they’d spent hours discussing over the meaning of the events it described.

Of course both Celestia and herself had encountered King Sombra’s crystal unicorns during the final siege of the Crystal Empire. They had been little more than mindless weapons and their magic had only been destructive and dark. Despite their undeniable power, they barely stood a chance against the unicorn soldiers of Canterlot, since they were incapable of even performing a shield spell. A simple disruption spell and they stood helpless, at least as helpless as any soldier of King Sombra could be. Luna repressed a shudder when she remembered the armies of the dark king, brainwashed and tortured to the point the felt nothing but rage and bloodthirst. Neither pain, nor fear, nor doubt getting in the way of them and their goal to kill as many ponies as they could before dying themselves.

That was of course also the reason none of the crystal unicorns survived the final battle. They could simply not surrender even when there was no possible hope of winning the battle anymore. Luna and her troops had been forced to end them all as they proved too dangerous to be held captive. She knew Celestia’s forces had no other way of dealing with them either.
It had been when the last of Sombra’s artificial unicorns had fallen that the dark king retreated into his castle, leaving his troops to themselves in the midst of battle. Inside the castle, he invoked his final curse.

Luna and Celestia had been in the air at that point, joining their troops for the last attack, when the bright flash of forbidden light filled the space around them, blinding even the aspect of the sun momentarily. When they could see again, it was the lack of things to see that deeply disturbed them and everypony present.
The Empire had simply vanished from the surface of this world. And with it all of its inhabitants. Even the ones who had surrendered or had been held captive had simply disappeared into thin air. The only thing that had remained were the ones fallen, now scattered around in the tundra that had replaced the once glorious Empire of the north.

They had spent days of searching but only could confirm one thing: The Empire was gone, and with it the crystal ponies. They best mages in all of Equestria had then been called and analysed the lingering traces of magic. What they found out was barely satisfying for Luna back then. They concluded that a curse had been cast and by the magnitude of its effects, they doubted it was possible for King Sombra to survive the backlash of such a powerful curse. A few of the mages indicated their doubts that a curse like this could be permanent and dared to hope that the Empire might return at some point. When or how, nopony could tell.

Now, more than a millennium later, the mages had been proven correct. The Empire had returned and with it the crystal ponies. The last traces of King Sombra had been extinguished by Princess Cadence and the powerful crystal heart. Nopony, not even the crystal ponies themselves, remembered the unicorns King Sombra had once created for his war. Nopony except Celestia and Luna who chose this knowledge best be forgotten.

And then, this pony had appeared seemingly out of nowhere. Crystal Note as she called herself had been seen in Canterlot and later in Ponyville. It had taken a while for the rumours to reach the Royal Palace of Canterlot and the two ruling princesses.
It became clear to them that Twilight Sparkle, the newest princess and youngest of the alicorns, had met Crystal Note almost as soon as she arrived in Ponyville. To say that Celestia had been devastated to learn that Twilight Sparkle, her most faithful student, had kept secrets from her would be an understatement. For her own peace of mind and her own sanity’s sake, her sister had settled on the conviction that Twilight must have some knowledge beyond her own and therefore a good reason to not inform her old teacher yet. To her great relief, a letter from the young princess, minutes after Cadence’s letter, had confirmed as such. A promise had been made to not tell anypony of Crystal Note’s nature until the mare was ready or severe circumstances asked for it. Sadly, the latter had happened.

Luna, while believing in Twilight Sparkle as much as her sister, had not been able to settle solely on trust though. The images of the war had been too fresh in her mind still and the horror of crystal unicorns threatening her subjects had forced her to investigate. In the shadow of the night, she had taken the chance to get a look at Crystal Note without being seen. The pony she had found wasn’t even close to the creatures she had gotten to know as crystal unicorns.
Her magic was weak inside her, not more than a unicorn filly would possess. Her mind was bare of any trace of dark magic and none of Sombra’s dark influence was to be found. She had opted to forcibly enter the mare’s dream at some point but after seeing the mare with her own eyes, she rejected the idea. Her oaths towards her duties in the realm of dreams in the end had been stronger than any fear could become and she did not break her vow to ever enter the dream of an unwilling pony.

So Luna and Celestia waited and talked, made plans and shared ideas on how to react to the appearance of a new kind of crystal unicorn. Days passed and turned to weeks and no message was received. The daily routine of ruling and duties had replaced their worries mostly. The mare Crystal Note didn’t pull much of attention and kept her nature concealed to the citizens of Ponyville, with a few exceptions.

Then, the letter from the Crystal Empire came. Crystal Note had revealed her identity by advice of Cadence. The crystal ponies had remembered. Crystal Note had faced the crystal heart and had been accepted by it. But something unexpected had happened as well.
By the power of the curse or the unclear nature of her transformation, the mare’s mind had suffered severely. Princess Cadence had tried to snap her subject out of confusion by showing her compassion and acceptance. Now Princess Twilight tried the same with companionship and knowledge, to no success as far.

Celestia and Luna had always been willing to offer their assistance, and now that they saw the reasoning behind the two younger alicorns any hard feelings had been vanquished. Their discussion had been quick and decisive. The depth of the mind had always been connected to the realm of dreams and Celestia had been the one to name her sister as the best pony to offer help.
With some pride but also determination, Luna had lost no time to make her leave towards Ponyville.

Luna’s reminiscence was stopped by the voice of Spike, the young dragon
“Princess Luna! What are you doing here? I thought you’d be in Canterlot raising the moon soon.”
A small smile made it to her lips when she saw the remain of ponies turn towards her as well with happy expressions but also hope in their eyes
“My sister will perform my duties for me tonight. Your letter sounded urgent, Twilight Sparkle, as did the letter of Princess Cadenza. We agreed that immediate action would be appropriate.”
The ponies nodded affirmatively and Applejack, who had shown the deepest concern for Crystal Note so far, asked
“Will you be able to help her, Princess?”
Luna met the gaze of the green eyes and nodded
“I will do my most, dear Applejack, to achieve as such.”

With everything said, Luna made her way past the ponies up the stairs. She was only followed by Twilight Sparkle. When they reached the room, she was to enter first and inform the crystal pony of the new visitor. Luna waited for Twilight and Fluttershy to exit, giving both mares a grateful nod. She took one last calming breath, then stepped into the room.

Author's Note:

Hi everyone and welcome back if you found your way here from a prequel!

I hope you can enjoy this story as much as I do!
I know I keep repeating myself, but this one turned out far longer than I initially planed.
Again, this is split in chapters for a more enjoyable reading experience, hopefully.
I'd love to hear what you think about each chapter, so feel free to comment!

As usual a few remarks before you start:
I'm not a native English speaker so I apologize if there are some mistakes or grammar issues. When you find some, please let me know and I'll get it fixed as soon as I can.

I'd love to hear some of your opinions on this story and I'm happy for any suggestions and ideas.

Enjoy reading!

Comments

[Conflict]

sorrowful regretful MEMORY COMES AT A COST

[TalkingToMyself]

8549280
I like that song!