Sky Dancer, the First Flying Unicorn

by Scroll

Chapter Sixteen: The Crystal Sage

{The frozen north is a bleak land filled with cold and desolate ice. It is a land of emptiness, a land of endless stretches of white. It is a land of silence other than the occasional cold whistle of the wind. A land where no pony roams, at least not for long.

{In this frozen world, my companions and I had the whole world to ourselves. This incredible isolation made me feel like we really were the last ponies on the planet. I even remember thinking, “This must be what the end of the world feels like.”

{Despite all of this, I found peace and solace in this place too. The winds that blew there felt mostly natural, and there was just something cleansing about the snow to the soul. There was a purity there I rarely experienced elsewhere. It was even possible we were the first ponies to ever tread that exact spot.

{The whole experience felt otherworldly, and not entirely in a bad way, at least not for me.

{I could appreciate the purity of nature in ways most other ponies could not. Aside from that, it was comforting to me to know that, this time, I did not trot this desolate nature all by myself. The fact there were so few of us out there made us feel all the tighter. All the closer together.

{There were many times I roamed ahead just to appreciate the silence all around us but, on the other hoof, when I did speak with my new companions, they often had some very interesting things to say so the break in silence was entertaining too.}

“And that's how it works!” the Doctor concluded. “To reiterate, this paper is a form of a perception filter. It shows you whatever you expect to see, although that perception can be shaped by external stimuli. If I gave you a specific suggestion before I showed you the paper then I planted that idea into your head before I flash it to you.

“For example, let's say I approached you and told you that I was the Building Inspector for whatever building you happen to be standing in. After that moment, you'd be thinking of a Building Inspector, wouldn't you? So, when I flash my, quote/unquote, 'Credentials', you probably would be seeing whatever you'd expect a Building Inspector's credentials to look like, and voila! That's how the psychic paper works, my friend!”

“I see. That's very interesting,” Feather Wind said back. “Now let's broach another topic that's been bothering me. Pockets? Really? You have built-in pockets on your body?”

For a moment the Doctor flashed Derpy an amused grin behind him. All three girls were behind him and Feather Wind at that moment. He returned that amused grin to Feather Wind. “Actually, to tell you the truth, I'm with you on that one. Back in the universe I originally came from, equines do not normally have pockets on their flanks.

“Of course, they don't normally talk either. After nine-hundred and twenty-six years of age, my adventures still finds ways to surprise me, such as the discoveries I made since crossing over into this pony universe.”

“WHOA!” Feather Wind's eyes widened in shock, then he shook his head. “Nine-hundred and twenty . . .

“O-kay. I'll file that one for later, but for now, please explain to me why you and Derpy are the only ones with built-in pockets on your flanks.”

“Well . . . remember how I said I originally came from another universe where homo-sapiens are a more common sentient species?” Feather Wind nodded, so the Doctor went on. “Well . . . during my journeys with my lovely assistant, apparently we flew through the hole in the universe once again and crossed into another reality where ponies don't have pockets on their flanks but, in her original reality, they do. I guess we flew too close to the second star on the right and flew on straight until morning.”

Not realizing the Doctor was making a specific reference with that last sentence, Feather Wind took his word for it literally and assumed flying through the curvature of space at certain velocities could allow one to cross over into parallel dimensions.

He did not realize how close to the truth he really was.

“Doctor!” Derpy called out behind them in concern. That prompted both Feather Wind and the Doctor to pause and look back at her. When she had their attention, Derpy went on. “Doctor, I think she's sick! She doesn't look so well,” Derpy announced in concern while clearly indicating the young filly traveling with them.

This caused the Doctor and Feather Wind to reverse their course and head back to the girls. Upon arrival, the Doctor aimed his sonic screwdriver at Vision and waved it back and forth across her for a few seconds while the device emitted a high pitched pulse. When the sound stopped, he looked into the device as it extended upward for a moment which revealed a new compartment. He stared at that for two seconds before nodding.

“Yes. She does have a fever,” the Doctor confirmed.

“Then we have to head back!” Stern Wing encouraged. “She's just a filly! We can't leave her exposed to this harsh weather.”

“No!” Vision objected with an unsteady stance.

She wore a light blue cloak, had a wool hat on, a scarf and thick pants yet she was still feverish. Her cheeks and the bottom of her eyes glowed red from illness, yet she was still determined to stay.

“We have to go on. We must find the Red Crystal, and we're drawing close to it. I can feel it.” Vision gave a soft smile. “Besides . . . I kind of love this place. The snow is so beautiful!”

“Beautiful?” Stern Wing inquired. “But you can't even see it.”

“I know, I can't . . . but I can hear it,” the filly announced. “To my ears, the snow twinkles . . . kind of like stars. It's so lovely.”

Suspecting that what Vision said was a sign of delirium, Derpy said, “Oh Doctor!” Derpy hugged the little filly with her forehooves and wings. “What are we going to do? She can't go on like this.”

“Hmm.” The Doctor tapped his lips with his sonic screwdriver for a moment as he looked in the direction they were going, then looked back at the young filly. “When you say we are close, can you give us an approximate idea how close?”

“Very close,” Vision answered with a cold shiver. “It's just over that hill up ahead, and somewhere down below it.”

“What's wrong with her, Doc? Why is she so sick like this?” Derpy asked. While she asked, a bit of tears hung from her eyes as she hugged the filly tenderly.

“Besides the fact we're standing in a field of ice and snow?” Stern Wing pointed out.

“My best guess is that she has a naturally frail constitution,” the Doctor guessed. “Young filly, would I be correct in assuming you have never set a hoof outside the temple you were raised in before?”

“That's correct, Sir,” Vision verified.

“Well, there you have it,” the Doctor said with a shrug and a curved, diagonally upraised foreleg bent at the joint. “Her immune system is not accustomed to dealing with these challenges, so it's more vulnerable than most ponies her age.”

“So what are we going to do about it?” Stern Wing demanded a response in concern.

“I think, for the moment, you three girls stay here while Feather Wind and I go on ahead and investigate the next valley in search of the Red Crystal,” the Doctor proposed. “In the meantime, hug her tightly and wrap both of your wings around her. Your shared body heat should help keep her warmer until we get back.”

“But you need me!” Vision objected. “I'm the only one that can sense the presence of the crystal.”

“Not necessarily.” For a moment the Doctor lifted up his sonic screwdriver to indicate it, then tapped his head with a hoof when he realized how stupid a visual indication was to a blind filly, so instead he decided to announce, “I can have my sonic screwdriver emit an intermittent sonic pulse then listen to the feedback. If you're correct and we're close to the device, then I should be able to narrow it down the rest of the way with my handy-dandy sonic screwdriver. With each blip we get, we should be able to narrow it down to the crystal itself.”

“Geeze, is there anything that thing can't do?” Stern Wing asked in impressed disbelief. “You've used it for so many functions at this point that it's starting to feel like you're making it up as you go along.”

“Just like my plans!” the Doctor announced cheerfully. “Isn't that fantastic?!”

Stern Wing sighed with a roll of her eyes then bent down and wrapped her wings and her body around Derpy's which, in turn, was hugging the young filly from the other side. “Well, it seems we got sort of a plan for now so go you two. We'll keep the little one safe and warm.”

“And loved!” Derpy added very emotionally. “The warmth of love melts any ice and keeps the Windigos at bay.”

“So there we have it.” The Doctor turned to look at Feather Wind. “C'mon, my friend. Onwards and upwards.”

With that, the Doctor turned and trotted away.

Feather Wind followed but his gaze lingered on the girls in concern for eight seconds, then he looked back at the Doctor while he trotted faster to catch up. He asked upon arrival, “Are you sure it's safe to leave the girls back there like that?”

“I trust my companion,” the Doctor announced a little seriously. He then regarded Feather Wind. “Do you have faith in yours?”

“Of course I do!” Feather Wind announced fiercely. “Stern Wing has defended me more times than I can count. I trust her with my life. I know in my heart she will always protect me . . . but Doctor . . . what about Vision?”

That question made the Doctor pause. He stood still, staring ahead at nothing for a moment, then looked back at the three girls with a look of tender concern in his eyes, then regarded Feather Wind the same way as he said, “Now that little one does concern me, but I have faith in us as well. We'll find the crystal and we'll come back for them as soon as we can.

“Or better yet . . . let's pass them up and leave them bundled together while we go and fetch the TARDIS itself, after we retrieve the crystal of course, in order to bring the TARDIS to them. That way they don't have to move except to enter the TARDIS. How does that plan sound, my friend?”

“Good, but I think I can do you one better.” Feather Wind pulled off his Mist Cloak and offered it to the Doctor. “After we retrieve the crystal, put this on and I'll use the wind to blow you back to the TARDIS. Meanwhile I'll use my telekinetic abilities to keep up. Using this strategy, I can fly us back to the TARDIS so we end up retrieving it even faster.”

“Fascinating.” The Doctor grabbed and held the Mist Cloak. He watched as mist constantly poured down the cloak but, in this cold environment, it did it at a reduced rate. Eventually he saw tiny flashes within the Mist Cloak, reminiscent of a lightning storm. “So you use this to glide through the air like a hand glider?”

“Hand?” Feather Wind reflected, then shook his head. Since he recognized the word glider, he added, “Exactly.”

“But don't you need this to fly?” the Doctor checked.

“I have an alternate strategy, but it isn't as efficient,” Feather Wind answered. “Still . . . it will be faster than trotting back to the TARDIS. Anything to reduce their time out here is likely for the better.”

“Good thinking, my friend!” the Doctor cheered. “I guess I'll just put this on right now.

“I must say, I've always been interested to see what it's like to glide through the air on a magical Mist Cloak. It keeps me up at night just thinking about it.”

Feather Wind chuckled at the Doctor's antics.

Xoxo

“It's got to be somewhere around here,” the Doctor declared with a fair amount of certainty. He spun in place, aiming his sonic screwdriver forward. In every direction he aimed it, the signal never got stronger until it occurred to him to aim it downward. When he did, he sighed. “That's what I was afraid of.”

“It's freezing down there,” Feather Wind realized as he looked down at the ice.

The Doctor scanned the area below him several times then kept checking the pop up hidden compartment within his device. After doing this three times he announced, “There's no doubt about it. This ice is eighteen feet thick but, below that, the lake is still in a liquid state, albeit very, very, very cold temperatures.”

He sighed as he looked at his partner, then said, “I should be the one to go. I have two hearts so I can hold my breath longer, my body temperature can hold warmer for longer, and I can recover faster once I get out of the water.”

“But I can cast a spell on me that will hold a globe of air around my head,” Feather Wind countered. “I will not suffocate down there. Furthermore, I can use my horn to light the darkness.”

“But I can use my sonic screwdriver to home in on the target,” the Doctor counter-argued. “I should be the one to go.”

“Yes,” Feather Wind closed his eyes softly. “I'm sure youryou're device can do many amazing things, but I feel this one is my destiny. King Sombra is my distant ancestor. I should be the one to seek his crystal, and I'm the only one that can connect with it. My spirit will guide my path.

“Besides,” he opened his eyes again, “I think I learned something from your device. Your device emits a sonic pulse which it uses to vibrate things around it in order to produce an effect. Well, I think I can achieve the same thing with my horn. I'll send out a sonic pulse as well, or a magical one. Either way, I can home in on the signal. It can guide me through the water and I'll use telekinesis to help propel me to swim through this faster.”

“You're so small, though. You won't be able to hold your body temperature for long,” the Doctor noted in concern.

“Only one of us should go,” Feather Wind insisted. “The other should remain behind to ensure the girls remain safe. If something happens to me down there, one of us needs to make sure to head back to the TARDIS and fetch them. Between the two of us . . . you're the only one who knows how to pilot that ship.”

The Doctor closed his eyes in pain, then opened them again as he looked in the direction of the girls. Feather Wind realized he had the Doctor there on that point.

“Then how about this.” The Doctor looked back at Feather Wind. “I'll give you just five minutes alone down there to try to find the crystal. Whether you succeed or not, unless you return to the surface first, we are heading out either way. We'll fly back to the TARDIS, put the girls in there then come back to this lake to make another attempt if you fail the first time and after you warm up first.

“I might have a spacesuit in the TARDIS that can make a better second attempt, in that case. I wish I had thought of it the first time but I didn't know we'd be diving into a frozen lake.”

The Doctor put a hoof on Feather Wind's shoulders. “You will require a warm bath after this, but not too hot. I don't want to put too much of a system shock on you.

“While you are down there, you will feel like you are constantly being stung by tiny ice needles, but you need to hold fast to your concentration. The world is counting on you. Its fate rests in your hooves. Hold tight to the idea of anything you love while you are down there. Realize, while you do, that you are never truly alone in this world.”

“I know, Doctor,” Feather Wind said in a smooth, calm voice. “I have felt it many times in my life. I have heard it in the songs ponies sing when they are down on their luck. I have seen it in amazing ponies that soar high in the sky. I have seen it in the Princess with her radiant wings and heart. There is plenty in my life that I cherish, and I shall not forget them as I fight for them with all that I have.”

The Doctor grew a warm smile, then said after a few moments, “Didn't you once say you tried to join the Bolts because you looked up to them as heroes?”

Feather Wind focused on the Doctor. “I never told you that, so you must have read it in your history books.”

“Or overheard you when you said it while I stood in the background,” the Doctor said with a mischievous wink. “Anyway, look at you now! Fighting for what you believe in, and ready to give it your all.”

“That's why I will succeed,” Feather Wind said determinedly as he looked down at the ice. “I simply must.”

“Well.” The Doctor lowered his hoof from Feather Wind's shoulder. “We'll have to get to the water first. I'll start melting the ice with a sonic vibrational pulse, and you start melting it with a laser beam from your horn.”

Feather Wind grinned at the Doctor in amusement. “Light and sound, working together as one?”

“Indeed,” the Doctor agreed cheerfully with a slight chuckle.

xoxo

{Down there in the cold, empty abyss, it was like a cold day in Tartarus. Constant pain seared into my hide. It felt strange that something so cold could end up feeling like hot fire. I was in agony.

{But all my years of study, discipline, concentration, and spell-crafting helped to prepare me for this, but I had to draw on every ounce of my strength. My time with the Wonderbolts helped me to push myself beyond my limits and taught me there was great strength in unity. My studies in my room at my father's manor helped me to focus on my problems and not allow myself to drift away into distractions. I used to have a problem with that, as you recall. My head kept floating away into the clouds. It took a lot of effort to tether it to the ground.

{Then I thought of everyone I loved. Your mother came to my mind especially. I remember how she boldly stepped in front of me and spread her wings wide to hold the goblin invasion at bay. She would do anything to protect her friend and lover, and she would fight just as hard to defend ponies she didn't even know. She attacks with strength but is never vindictive. Instead, she holds her own courage in her heart, doing what she does because she knows it is right.

{Then I thought of the Orchard family. I thought about Lady Hamilton as she hugged her husband and cried into his shoulder, wondering what in the world their family did to deserve all this tragedy. I clearly remember thinking that they did nothing to deserve this, that this attack was truly unjust.

{They had every excuse in the world to collapse in despair at that time, but then I remembered what Uncle Braeburn said to his family at the last moment they looked back at their old farm.}

“As long as we have each other, we're always home,” Braeburn had once assured his family.

{They didn't give up when things got tough. They held onto each other, picked each other up and sang a song to cheer each other up.

{That intense conviction of spirit was something that deeply touched my heart since that time and, in that moment in the dark abyss, the warmth I felt from that moment dulled the pain around my body.

{I found it was easier to concentrate. I felt like that family was down there with me and, once again, I better understood the Doctor's words to me before I dove down there. He said no pony is truly alone in this world. The spirit of Harmony flows through us all so, in that moment, I channeled the essences of that spirit through me to give me strength.

{The warmth of my heart warmed my body. Emotion is the fire upon which magic is drawn. It makes sense, then, that the two would interact with each other.

{Though it was still a painful experience, I learned I had the power to do this through the strength of a warm spirit.

{As promised, I kept sending a pulse out into the water. Water conducts sound very well and carries it farther. As I got the echo feedback, it steadily drew a map in my mind.

{It was kind of breathtaking, actually. Towers of crystal ice were all around me. I would have marveled at it more if it wasn't so painful to be down there. In their own way, it was so beautiful.

{That taught me I could find beauty in even the darkest and most isolated places in Equestria. The spirit of discovery enthralled me and, truth be told, I was never quite the same again.

{But one pulse came back different than the others. It radiated a magical signature and, as I drew closer, it emitted its own reddish glow. This was the Red Crystal, and it was encased in ice.

{This was both good news and bad news for me. Good news that I found what I sought, but bad news that I had to fight a little harder to get to it.

{My concentration was taxed enough as it was, but I fought harder to pull at invisible strength, a strength that was beyond my perception at the time.

{I shot a constant beam of energy at the ice. Down there, in the cold depths, it took a while for the ice to even warm up let alone start melting.

{The whole time I felt like I was fighting at the edge of my life and somehow had to keep on pushing. It reminded me of the time the roof of a house collapsed on a flimsy force field and I heard it cracking, ready to give at any moment and crush me to death.

{Down there it felt almost as urgent except the fate of the world was at stake. I had to win this . . . no matter how hard I had to push myself.

{The ice cracked as I continued my efforts. The cracks spread more as it steadily became liquid, but my efforts didn't even scratch the Red Crystal. It stood immune to the laser.

{Eventually I plunged my hooves into the burning liquid and touched the crystal. A brilliant pulse of energy shot through me and a white flash assailed my eyes.

{When next my vision focused, mysteriously I was somewhere else.}

xoxo

Feather Wind shook his head to clear it. He soon realized his environment was no longer painfully cold.

In fact, he was no longer in the water at all. He was on solid ground. Very flat, solid ground.

He looked at it and realized, in astonishment, that it was made of crystal. He looked around and discovered he seemed to be in an entire city made of crystal.

Feather Wind was awed at the sight.

He floated up to a standing position as he continued to look around.

It was true. The streets, the buildings, the lamps, the benches, everything . . . it was all made of crystal. Different colored crystal for some things in relation to each other, but still crystal.

The lighting of the environment was also strange. It had a rainbowish hue, but it wasn't bright. It was like daylight if it was very, very cloudy. Cloudy enough to make the day seem much darker.

That drew his attention upward, and once again he gasped in astonishment.

Streams of rainbow flowed far above him like a colorful river of light in the sky. All of those streams met up with a central point, a towering castle of crystal which seemed to be in the exact center of this entire area. The rainbow lights met up at the tip of that castle. The lights shone like an Aurora Borealis. It shifted back and forth as it changed colored hues.

“What is this place?” Feather Wind asked in amazement but, deep in his heart, he had a strong inkling. Oddly, it even felt familiar.

Then, mysteriously, beautiful music sailed up into the air. The voice was that of a mare who sounded positively angelic. The song she sang had no words, just ever-changing pitch. The music swam through the air, lighting up his soul.

Just then he suddenly realized he had his Mist Cloak on, but that should be impossible. He loaned it to the Doctor before he dove down into the water, yet here it was . . . mysteriously on his back again as if it belonged there.

My wings . . . they're back!

The music had an intoxicating draw to it, but it did not feel like a siren's call. Feather Wind noted how his mind wasn't muddled, and he also realized he could ignore the song and resist the call if he really wanted to. There was nothing compulsory about the music at all. It was just a beautiful voice that sang in the air. Nothing menacing about it at all.

More to the contrary, in fact. The music felt soothing and very loving. It felt like a song of a pony who was deeply channeling her emotions, giving the song an unearthly purity to it.

Beyond that, it did have an ethereal echo to it which made it sound highly unlikely to be sung from a living pony. More and more, an angel really did sound close to the mark.

Feather Wind took off into the sky then hovered there for a few minutes telekinetically.

While suspended, he slowly spun about in the sky as he surveyed the borders of the crystal city he was in.

The place had an amazing feel to it and amazing architecture, but one thing felt terribly wrong about it besides the gray skies. That was the fact that this city was totally empty.

Who would build a city this large and populate it by no pony? That was such a waste. No pony would go through this much effort to build something then simply abandon it, but that was the evidence before his very eyes.

His hearing, on the other hoof, indicated something else. It sounded like at least one pony was here to sing out that painfully beautiful song. It was hard to pinpoint the source because it seemed to swim all around him but flying in certain directions made the song sound louder compared to other directions.

Using that as a guide, he narrowed his search down to a large crystal building. At first the doors were shut but, with one telekinetic push later, that circumstance changed.

Since the song sounded even louder within, Feather Wind ventured in.

What he saw inside the building made him pause, having lost his breath for the third time in recent history.

This building was several stories tall full of books. This was an incredible library that time forgot.

Feather Wind spun about, feeling dizzy and overwhelmed by the majesty of what he witnessed there. All of that knowledge, all of those wonderful stories . . . they deserved to be read by somepony. To do otherwise would be a disservice to all of these noble authors.

As Feather Wind flew through the library, he eventually did encounter one other pony within but definitely not what he expected to see based on the sound of the music. This pony was towards the back of the library who seemed to be staring up into a stained crystal window.

What really threw Feather Wind's expectations off was that this was a male pony, but the voice that sang through the air was clearly feminine.

The more he studied this situation, the more he realized that this pony was not the one singing. The song emanated near his area but not directly from where he sat.

In fact, the voice did not seem to be a source at all, leaving it totally disembodied.

The pony in question was deep gray in color with a black mane. He wore nothing but a red scarf tied around his neck. He seemed very forlorn, especially at that moment as he sat there listening to that hauntingly beautiful song.

But the song instantly stopped when Feather Wind landed behind the other pony with a slight hoof clomp sound.

The older pony in front of him grew alert and looked over his shoulder at Feather Wind. Because of that, Feather Wind could see more details of the gray pony, such as the sideburns down the side of his face or his deep crimson eyes.

“Who are you?” the other pony menaced in a hard tone. He flashed for a moment then suddenly he was right in front of Feather Wind's face. “How did you get in here! No pony can get in this sanctuary! Explain yourself!”

“I . . . I don't know how I got here!” Feather Wind said, flabbergasted. “I simply touched the Red Crystal and it somehow transported me here.”

The dark gray stallion calmed down a little bit as curiosity and surprise shifted into his eyes. “You found the Red Crystal? That seems dangerous. Isn't it still in the bottom of a frozen lake?”

“Yes,” Feather Wind answered. “That's where I was before I got here.”

“And that's where you still are!” the dark gray stallion said more firmly. “Go back! Go away! Leave this forsaken place! Your physical body is still down there, drowning in that frozen lake. Go back before I get another pony hurt.” The last sentence he said cracked a bit due to deep regret.

“Who are you?” Feather Wind asked in intense curiosity. “If I'm still in the lake and drowning then my mind must be inside the Red Crystal, and if that's true then . . .” Feather Wind's eyes widened in astonishment. “Oh my Celestia! Are you Sombra?”

The dark gray stallion's eyes popped open with shock upon hearing that name, then he teleported right in front of Feather Wind's face and bore down hard on top of him. “HOW DID YOU HEAR OF THAT FORSAKEN NAME?!” the dark gray stallion roared. “No pony alive should be aware of that name!”

“Ah!” The dark gray stallion bore into Feather Wind so much that he fell over backwards on his back. “My uncle told me that name!” Feather Wind explained. “He seemed to indicate that our family might be descended from him.”

“Descended?” the gray stallion looked taken aback. “You're of my family bloodline?”

“So it is you! You're King Sombra!” Feather Wind realized in amazement.

“NO!” the gray stallion insisted with a roar, then calmed down as he said sadly while closing his eyes and bowed his head. “No,” he repeated in depression. “I no longer go by that name. Not since he tainted it.”

“He?” Feather Wind asked in confusion as he crawled up to stand on his four legs again. “He who?”

“My other half,” the dark stallion explained in shame as he shifted his head to the side. “My dark counterpart. The one who took over my body and left me for dead.”

“So there are actually two Sombras,” Feather Wind realized, “and you're the good half! You're what's left of his ponyhood.”

“As I said, in shame, I no longer wear that name. If you must call me something, call me by the name of my original profession in life before I got corrupted. Call me Crystal Sage.” Crystal Sage looked at Feather Wind. “It's also less confusing than distinguishing between two Sombras. He,” he said acidly, “is King Sombra, and I am what is left of his true self.”

“Clarify something for me,” Feather Wind requested. “Is this King Sombra a truly foreign entity that invaded your body or . . .”

“The answer to that question is complicated,” Crystal Sage said.

Right after that sentence, he suddenly vanished. Feather Wind had to search around for a moment before he saw the dark stallion pulling books off the shelves with a red telekinetic aura (much like Feather Wind's father, actually) then vanish again. Looking around further, he saw Crystal Sage floating even more books off the shelf then vanish only to reappear in front of Feather Wind and dropped the books in front of him.

“Here!” Crystal Sage declared. “The answers you seek are in these books. Take it, and leave me in peace.”

Feather Wind looked at the books, tempted, then said, “No.” He looked at Crystal Sage. “You said I am still out there drowning in that frozen lake, so I don't have time to read all these books. Just tell me in a few sentences what happened to you.”

“You are not in any immediate danger,” Crystal Sage assured as he vanished and reappeared in a sitting position where Feather Wind first discovered him. Once again, he was looking up at the crystal window again. “Time flows differently in here than it does on the outside. It's subjective. You could finish all of those books if you want to and not even one second has passed on the outside, or you can make it so that one second here equals a thousand years out there. It really doesn't matter.”

It finally occurred to Feather Wind that Crystal Sage was not teleporting using magic. If both of them were just a thought in here, then maybe Feather Wind could do that too.

He tried to concentrate, then appeared in front of and facing Crystal Sage who subsequently narrowed his eyes at Feather Wind.

“GO!” Crystal Sage cried out insistently, then said much more sadly, “Leave me to my sorrows.”

“I can't! I need you to help me with your dark counterpart.”

Crystal Sage narrowed his eyes at Feather Wind. “What do you mean?”

“King Sombra has awakened and has been very busy out there in a naughty way. I think he corrupted a pony named Toy Box and turned him into Puppet Master. Through him, King Sombra has been gathering dark energy for some reason. Me and my friends think he's trying to resurrect himself and bring back the Crystal Empire.”

Feather Wind leaned his head back as he asked, “By the way, that reminds me, is that where we are right now? Is this the Crystal Empire?”

“This is not the actual Crystal Empire. It is only a mental facsimile of it born from my mind,” Crystal Sage answered, then teleported to a standing position without moving from his spot. “So let me get this straight. You're here to gather the Red Crystal and my sage advice to defeat a servant of he who is gathering dark energy?”

“Puppet Master is no longer alive, we think. He's an animated corpse of his own former body, albeit corrupted. We can't even hurt him. It is said he's powered by a black crystal somewhere within his body and he's using that to gather dark energy from terrorized ponies. He's been doing it for years, too. Not even Celestia knows how to hoofle this.

“Recently, however, I've encountered a young oracle who told me the secret to defeating the black crystal is this one, the Red Crystal. She said this crystal houses the last of your good essence. Considering whom I'm currently talking too, I can now verify that what she told me is correct.”

Crystal Sage turned to his side and gazed at his own cutie mark. This allowed Feather Wind to view it for the first time. It was a red crystal which split into three separate points from a single base.

“That's it, isn't it?” Feather Wind realized. “That's where we are. That's where we're standing right now. The Red Crystal is a physical manifestation of your own cutie mark. This place is an extension of your innate talent.”

Crystal Sage continued to stare at his mark for a few more seconds, then gave a slightly suspicious look to Feather Wind. “Who are you? I get that you're a family relation, but who exactly are you? What's your name?”

“Me? I'm Feather Wind,” Feather Wind answered, “and I am the first recorded flying unicorn in Equestrian history, at least in known history.”

“Flying unicorn?” Crystal Sage asked with an amused smirk. “That must be a remarkable talent.”

“Exactly!” Feather Wind agreed. “The sky is my passion, Sir. Check this out.” Feather Wind showed Crystal Sage his own cutie mark. “I've always been one with the sky, Sir, and I even made this cloak to help me get there. I can make myself as light as a feather, I can control the weather without using my magic, and I can communicate a vast distance using only the wind.”

“Hmm.” Crystal Sage bowed his head with a fond grin. “It's nice to hear my family legacy is making something other than a dark stain in the history of Equestria. You do me proud.”

He sighed, then focused back at Feather Wind with a serious and grim expression as he asked, “How long have I been gone? How long has the crystal remained at the bottom of the lake?”

Feather Wind turned to face him fully again and thus hiding his own cutie mark. “Near as I can figure, about nine-hundred years.”

“Nine-hundred years,” Crystal Sage echoed in quiet, stunned astonishment. “Has it really been that long?”

“How long does it feel to you?” Feather Wind asked.

“I don't know.” Crystal Sage shook his head. “A long time, but as I said before . . . time is subjective here so it really doesn't matter.

“What matters here is that nine-hundred years passed outside this place.” Crystal Sage looked to his side with a very thoughtful and disturbed look to his face. “That means he has had nine-hundred years to advance his plot.

“Damn!” He closed his eyes and bowed his head. “I've been idle for far too long.”

Crystal Sage focused back on Feather Wind as he explained, “I'm sorry to say I cannot help you directly, or rather to say I won't. If I wanted to, I could take over your body right now and use it to work my magic in the wide world, but I won't. I refuse to go that far but, in that case, that limits my options.

“I am just a ghost in here, Feather Wind. Just a memory of a long-forgotten age which should be forgotten.

“What I can do is teach you what I know, and you can access the magic of the crystal since you seem to have some attunement to it but, to reach its full potential, it will require a lot more practice.”

“What happens if I do?”

“The magic of this crystal is the same magic I had in life,” Crystal Sage answered. “It's currently composed of a very similar crystal as the Crystal Heart itself, but far less powerful because only one pony so far has charged this crystal. In time, you can use this crystal like a second horn, except the magic of this crystal draws upon my cutie mark talent instead of your own. If you use this crystal and your own potential to its fullest, then you will effectively have two cutie mark talents.”

“Wow!” Feather Wind widened his eyes. “That would be impressive.”

“Indeed. I will also be around to teach you how to use my powers and, if you wish, I can also teach you what I know about crystal science. Through it, it can help you forge some of the most powerful magical items like the Crystal Heart or even this entire kingdom.” Crystal Sage waved around him. “Both extend from the same principles. That's why I studied here.”

“How would these skills help me to defeat Puppet Master?”

Crystal Sage grinned as he explained, “Because the knowledge I can give you can help you dispel the magic of his crystal at its source. If you become as adept at crystal magic as I once was, you'll understand the science behind the source of his power. With that knowledge, you can disenchant or even reverse the crystal that powers him. That, in turn, will defeat him once and for all.”

“That sounds fantastic,” Feather Wind said in relief. “I have some questions for you, though, if you don't mind. How in the world did this happen to you in the first place? How has there become two of you?”

Crystal Sage sighed as he looked down, then admitted, “To be honest, I don't exactly understand what happened to me either. All I know is that there is a force out there somewhere that is attempting to corrupt the magic of Equestria.

“Now I've thought about it a lot over these long years and it's left certain impressions in my mind.

“It seems this force, whatever it is, stems from beyond our realm. It seems to me as if it's barely sentient. It's more like a rabid animal, thrashing about on raw savage instinct alone . . . until it contacts a pony from our world!” Crystal Sage focused on Feather Wind. “That's why it's drawn to us. Through us, this dark force gains temporary sentience. Through us, it gains the ability to make more complex strategies.

“I'm not the first to be infected by this dark entity. There have been others long before me and quite likely long after me as well.”

Crystal Sage teleported away. Feather Wind looked about and discovered Crystal Sage pacing closer to the crystal window. Feather Wind privately wondered if that was the first time he saw Crystal Sage use his legs to trot instead of teleporting about.

“My name was Sombra, and I was a crystal sage. I studied the magic of crystals my whole life ever since I discovered my cutie mark talents which, I might add, was at a very early age. I was considered a prodigy of my time, and I used that talent to further crystal magic knowledge as far as I could. I was drawn to the Crystal Empire in order to further my research.

“Before me, there used to be a Crystal Queen who once ruled over the Empire with love, light, and benevolence. I was a humble servant of hers and, because of my expertise in crystal magic, she appointed me the title of 'The Crystaler'.”

Crystal Sage paused in his pacing and looked at Feather Wind. “Are you familiar with the Crystaling ceremony?”

Feather Wind shook his head. “Most traditions of the Crystal Empire, and indeed the entire empire, are is lost to history. I only know small bits and pieces.”

“What about the Crystal Heart? What do you know about that?” Crystal Sage inquired further.

“I know that the Crystal Heart is an artifact of great power. It is said to be the source that helped protect the Empire from the winter storms.”

“That's an understatement. The Crystal Heart is far more than that, my friend. It is the end result of Clover the Clever's research. Surely you must have heard of Heart's Warming Eve?”

“Yes. Yes, of course.”

Crystal Sage stomped a hoof on the ground. “The frozen north is where the Windigos originally came from, and they are still here. They are waiting to prey on any pony who has ice in their hearts.

“Clover the Clever discovered a spell that repels them. It, in turn, draws upon the warmth and caring of individual ponies.

“Later on, it was discovered that that spell could be channeled into a more permanent form.” Crystal Sage resumed pacing as he continued in a lecture tone. “Hence the Crystal Heart. A sage eventually came about that research of Clover the Clever's discoveries and realized that crystals could channel that energy into a more permanent form. If this could be done, then it could help expand love and light in Equestria beyond any standard we had at the time.”

“It was you, wasn't it?” Feather Wind realized. “You created the Crystal Heart! By Celestia, that's ironic considering what King Sombra did with it later.”

Crystal Sage paused and sighed. “What he did with it later,” he repeated, then added, “Surely he wouldn't have destroyed it. That would undermine the very thing he's trying to accomplish, world domination. If he wants to keep a hold over the Crystal Empire, then he would hide the heart, not destroy it.”

Crystal Sage looked at Feather Wind. “I assisted in the construction of the Crystal Heart, but not even I am powerful enough to make an object that mighty. What really makes the Crystal Heart special is that it channels the warm feelings of many separate ponies and puts it in what is essentially a container.

“Using that energy, not only could it protect the Empire, but heal it in many other ways. It can spread life, freedom, and joy to all ponies who bask under its brilliant rainbow light.”

“In that case, you also helped with the formation of the Crystal Empire itself!” Feather Wind realized. “Before the construction of the Crystal Heart, it was not safe to live here in the frozen north.

“Geeze, just how old are you?”

“The secrets of the crystals reveal many promising gifts,” was all Crystal Sage would say on that matter. “Anyway,” he resumed pacing. “So yes, I will admit, I helped forge the Crystal Empire. I know every street and building in this place like the back of my hoof. I even know this place better than the one who ruled it, because I helped to construct it in the first place.

“The Queen was instrumental in inspiring her subjects to peace, love, and happiness.

“Periodically, we would all gather and infuse that energy within the Crystal Heart and thereby make it stronger. The one who organized the ceremony was known as The Crystaler so, in other words . . . that was my job. One of many, in fact. I conducted the ceremony every year that infused all who gathered there with a brilliant crystal coat. Because I understood the science behind the Crystal Heart like no other, I was deemed the most fit for the job.

“For a long time, life was good.

“But, over time, I noticed disturbing patterns repeat at our borders. Something dark was attempting to sneak in, probably drawn by the light of the Crystal Heart and all it influenced. This darkness was hungry, and it wanted to expunge the light and/or corrupt it.

“I was called to investigate many times because it had a tendency to infect other crystals.

“I should have been more cautious, however, because one day it infected me during one of my attempts to purge it. Ever since then, a darkness grew in my heart and it corrupted my magic.

“In an attempt to slow the infection, I poured my magic into a crystal container. That crystal turned more and more black every time I did it but, eventually, I noticed that the more I did it, the weaker my magic became. The dark essence I channeled into that crystal was gaining magic at the same rate I was losing it, so, eventually, I decided to confront it directly.”

Crystal Sage paused and sighed. “That didn't go so well. We fought right here, as a matter of fact, up above the frozen lake. When I lost to my evil side, he took over my body until it was later defeated. Either way, I still remain dead.”

Crystal Sage paused to look at Feather Wind. “What I've done here, in this Red Crystal, was my last-ditch effort to preserve myself. Maybe I had originally planned and hoped this crystal would be discovered so I could encourage the user of this crystal into acts that would help to redeem myself.

“It's been such a long time in here. I don't remember all of my plans anymore. I guess, somewhere along the way, I forgot why I did it and wallowed in misery here.”

“What is your plan?” Feather Wind asked. “How can I help to redeem you?”

Crystal Sage vanished and appeared a few feet in front of Feather Wind (which was a bit startling for Feather Wind), facing the young pony, as he said, “King Sombra and I do share one goal, but our methods differ and our agenda's after that also differ. One thing we both have in common, however, is that we both want the return of the Crystal Empire.”

“Do you know where it is?” Feather Wind checked. “The real Crystal Empire, I mean?”

“I do not have King Sombra's memories after we split apart but, based on what I know and what he'd be willing and able to do, my best guess is that the Crystal Empire is stuck in limbo.

“That's actually a good thing, in a way. Time does not pass there like it does in the physical plane. Every pony stuck there would not notice the passage of time so, if they ever return, it will be as if no time had passed for them but, until they do return, they are stuck in virtual non-existence. At least that means they are not suffering in the meantime, but they definitely deserve a better fate.”

Crystal Sage trotted a little closer to Feather Wind. He bore into him a little again as he proposed, “I will help you against Puppet Master, and even my evil counterpart if I have to, on one condition . . . you must promise me to do everything in our combined power to bring the Crystal Empire back in order for it to shine with its long lost former glory.” Crystal Sage extended a hoof. “Do we have a deal?”

{I must admit, I was caught up in the moment and did not fully think things through. Just like the time I galloped away from home, I acted on the strength of pure emotion and not reason.

{I shook his hoof with no hesitation, but only later did it occur to me how much of a commitment I had promised him. What he was requesting would take a lifetime of labor. Maybe even more than that.}

“Absolutely!” Feather Wind said with no hesitation as he reached forward and shook Crystal Sage's hoof. “You are my only hope to defeat Puppet Master anyway, but I also sympathize with your loss about the Crystal Empire too and all those innocent ponies caught in the middle of this. If there is anything I can do within my power to help them, then that alone is worth our partnership.

“Know this and know this well, my friend . . . I am very committed to this task, but I will certainly need your help to pull this off.”

“Thank you!” Crystal Sage said with immense relief. “You don't know how long I've waited to hear somepony say that.”

“Explain something to me, though,” Feather Wind prompted.

“Anything,” Crystal Sage gladly invited.

“Who was that pony who sang that song when I first got in here?”

At first Crystal Sage looked taken aback by that question, then immense regret made his expression deeply crestfallen.

“She was . . . my love,” Crystal Sage answered solemnly.

“Your wife, I take it?”

“No.” Crystal Sage spun about and looked out the window again. “It's not that simple between us. I guess you could just say we enjoyed each other's company. I, of course, enjoyed her singing and she . . . well, I don't know what she ever saw in me. Obviously it was something. She acted like I gave her such meaning in her life.”

He sighed as he looked down. “One thing that depressed me about her, however, was her tendency to put herself down. She did not see her self worth while I, on the other hoof, saw her as the most precious pony in the world. It annoyed the heck out of me when she put herself down, but at least she felt better in my company. She followed me everywhere like a lost puppy. She even followed me into this place.”

Crystal Sage gestured about the entire library. “This is where I spent most of my life. I read and I read and I read on and on and on. One book after another.

“She, herself, couldn't read. I offered to teach her but, again, her self-esteem was too low to have confidence in herself for that and, besides, she did have one point . . . I was normally too busy to make a serious commitment out of it.

“While I was willing to teach her, my ability to do it personally was rather limited. I offered to hire a tutor for her, but all she wanted was to remain by my side. She even slept here. I don't know how many times I paused in surprise to find her sleeping in the middle of the floor here, then I'd look at her very fondly as I pulled out a blanket I had for just such an occasion. I tucked it around her using my magic. I watched her squirm in it in comfort. She looked like such an angel as she slept.

“Then, in later years, I remember this one time I was venturing beyond the Crystal Empire as I continued my research in discovering the source behind the magical infection in our lands. I closed my eyes as I stood on a high snowy hill. I tried to focus on my horn to sense in which direction the corruption was coming from, but I got disrupted from my concentration as I heard my name called out from behind me.

“I looked over my shoulder at her. I was stunned to see her galloping towards me naked. No boots, no hat, no jacket . . . not even a scarf to protect her. I was out in the winter snow with my enchanted scarf to keep me warm, which looks like the one I'm wearing right now, but she galloped out to me with nothing on at all. It was as if she acted on a whim with no hesitation or preparation.”

Crystal Sage rose up to his hind legs and stomped his forelegs hard on the ground. “I was FURIOUS at her for risking her health like that! How dare she risk something so precious in this world!” He calmed down. “But I couldn't stay mad at her. Despite how intense it was, my anger lasted only a few seconds. It was quickly dissolved by the love I felt for her.

“Having nothing else on hoof, I teleported my enchanted scarf over her. That, in turn, exposed me to the cold but I could hoofle it far better than she could and, besides, I had other tricks up my sleeve that could help.

“Honestly, I would have felt far more vulnerable if she remained by my side unprotected.

“I guess you could say, in a way, my love for her kept me warm.

“But . . . one day . . . she watched me as I battled my evil counterpart personally, and she was there to see me lose. She was one of the primary reasons I fought so hard. I had to protect her, I just had to . . . but, despite my best efforts, I still lost. The dark half of me was charged with more magic from the beginning of the fight. It turned out I delayed the problem too long which gave him the upper hoof in that particular battle, and he knew every trick I had except he was willing to use tactics that I would not.

“The last thing I remember in life was looking up as I fell down and drowned in that frozen lake . . . and pain stabbed my heart to realize that I failed her despite my best efforts.”

Crystal Sage was shaking at this point of the story in some rage but mostly pain and regret.

“I was so afraid of what he would do to her after I lost. King Sombra knew what I loved. He had my memories up to that point. I was so afraid he would immediately decimate her, but no. He ended up doing something far worse . . . he ignored her. He just put her in chains like everypony else, like she was no pony special to him at all. He neither tortured her nor showed her any love. He acted like she was just another face in the crowd.”

Tears rolled down his eyes as he shook. “Her self-esteem was already so fragile! To see her former lover turn into this . . . it must have shattered her heart.

“I had flash visions of her just occasionally ever since then, perhaps sent from Sombra to torture me. It was enough to realize she . . . she lost her voice. She never spoke again, let alone sang again! A broken heart could not find the strength to lift her angelic voice again!”

Crystal Sage collapsed onto his knees.

“Inside this crystal prison . . . I cried out to her! I cried out so hard, desperate for her to hear my plea, but she had no reason to believe I existed at all anymore. She thought I had been completely consumed by my darker half, and that he was all that was left of her former lover.”

Feather Wind paused his story when he heard his daughter sniffle beside him. Seeing that, he telekinetically lifted his Mist Cloak and used it to pull her closer to his side.

“Just a little longer, Sweet Heart. Just a little longer and we'll rest for the night. I'll continue my story tomorrow morning.”

{I don't know if this will make you feel any better, but I was in tears too at the time. Crystal Sage heard my sniffles and turned to look at me. Seeing another pony looking at him and actually caring, it helped him calm down a little.

{I could tell so easily that this was a colt of incredible strength of spirit, but no pony endures a loss that severe so easily. Even he was capable of tears as well and, of course, it would happen over the loss of somepony he dearly loved.}

“But . . . you'll see her again when we bring back the Crystal Empire, won't you?” Feather Wind asked hopefully in the past. “Maybe that will help inspire her to find her voice again.”

Crystal Sage shook his head. “That is impossible. I am just a lingering memory, one that is destined to fade eventually. What I have in mind will guarantee my passage into the afterlife once and for all, all in the hopes to bring back the Crystal Empire.”

He wiped his tears away as he stood up again. “There is one blessing in this situation. She no longer remembers me.”

“What?” Feather Wind looked sad. “How is that a good thing?”

“It's good because she can move on with her life unburdened by the tragedy of her past,” Crystal Sage answered. “King Sombra's curse would wipe away all memories of the time before he ruled if and when the crystal ponies return. It was a security measure of his to help him maintain an upper hoof over them, essentially causing them to forget how to rebel against him. That meant she would forget about me as well and the love we shared. If she can't remember that, maybe she'll find her voice again.

“However,” he looked back at Feather Wind, “the instant the Empire returns, King Sombra will grow aware of it as well. He stored the bulk of his power there. He needs only to return to the castle. If he does, he can bring himself back to life on that stored magic alone, so of course he'll aim to bring back the Empire itself first.

“Since I almost have the same agenda, somepony needs to get to the Crystal Empire right away and defend it with a barrier of love. If no pony does, King Sombra will immediately slip in and take over.

“The advantage of working with me is one can be more prepared for the arrival of the Crystal Empire. If he does it instead, it will be on his terms, and he will do it using darker magic. In this case, he'll either kill you to use your blood to power his dark rituals or he'll try to take over your body just like he tried, and succeeded, to steal mine.”

“You cannot just let your lover go,” Feather Wind whined. “You complete each other.”

“I died, Feather Wind. Not much I can do to change that. When other ponies die in the world they don't normally get a chance to plan and plot like this from beyond the grave. This crystal and you are my only ears, eyes, and vessel to help perform my plan.”

“What exactly is your plan?” Feather Wind inquired.

“The Red Crystal . . . it must be charged with an abundant amount of life, love, hope, joy . . . any positive emotion,” Crystal Sage answered. “In other words, it must become a Crystal Heart two point oh. It cannot nearly contain that much energy, but it can be enough for my purposes.

“You see, the Crystal Heart is also trapped in limbo. If the Red Crystal can be charged with enough positive feelings then it can create a sympathetic feedback loop between itself and the Crystal Heart which would draw the two closer together like a magnet.”

“And since the Crystal Heart is in the Crystal Empire, it would draw that back to the material plane too!” Feather Wind realized. “Crystal Sage, that's brilliant!”

“There are other stages to my plan, but it is better if I inform you later. For now, I task you with the responsibility to gather as much positive energy as you can using the Red Crystal. As a side effect, that will also give you the power you need to defeat the black crystal inside of Puppet Master so you have to cooperate with me anyway.”

“So because he's gathering negative energy . . . I have to draw a greater amount of positive energy!” Feather Wind realized.

Crystal Sage smiled proudly as he said, “Now you're thinking like a crystal sage! This is exactly correct. Having a greater amount of energy than the other guy gives you the upper hoof. You can even wait for him to dump off that energy to King Sombra. As he leaves to gather more energy to replace it, that's when you smack him down and finish him for good, then poof . . . no more errand boy for King Sombra.”

“What about Sombra himself? We'll have to deal with him and all of that gathered energy as well,” Feather Wind pointed out.

“One step at a time,” Crystal Sage encouraged with a cautious raise of a hoof. “If you follow through with my plan,” he replaced his hoof to the ground, “you can deal with each villain one by one instead of taking them both on at once. Even one of these ponies will be formidable enough as it is. I don't want to push you too hard, so it's better if you follow through with my plan.”

Crystal Sage approached closer. “King Sombra does not know you're working for me. He doesn't know that there is somepony out there that is acting with a pony who knows how he thinks. This will give us a tactical edge. Considering how powerful they both are, I figured we could use every advantage we can get.”

“I won't let you down, great-grandpa times fifteen or so,” Feather Wind said as he approached and embraced Crystal Sage. “Together we'll cleanse this stain off of our family history for good.”

“I truly wish I did not have to burden you with this task,” Crystal Sage said solemnly. “I'll do everything in my power to help you.”

{I can tell you from personal experience that I felt a lot of power from that hug he gave. It was filled with such intense warmth, conviction, power, and spirit. I realized I could easily see him as a mentor . . . but I also realized that, as my love and respect for him grew so, too, did I fear his counterpart. The more Crystal Sage proved how powerful, resourceful, and intelligent he was, the more I realized his evil side would be as well. That made a strange mixture of fear, love, and respect.

{In any case, definitely a pony worth paying attention to.}

Author's Note:

I wrote this story first, but there was a music I encountered on Pandara first and later found again on youtube that I think does a good job replicating the feeling of this chapter. In particular, the haunting feelings of how Crystal Sage describes the loss of his love. This is meant to be a true ghost story, but more of a sad and tragic one rather than outright scary.

Anyway, this song well communicates the feeling of tragic loss, but it also has a more hopeful end to the sound which I also feel foreshadows their relationship as well. It kind of give sthat bittersweet sense of hope.