Forgotten: The Frozen North

by milesprower06

Best-laid Plans, Part II

Luna perused one of the many bookshelves in the Crystal Castle's royal library, recalling distant memories of when she, her sister, Twilight, and Cadance attempted to find an answer for piecing the Crystal Heart back together after an infant Flurry had shattered it. It felt like so long ago, even for somepony her age.

The sound of the large entry doors opening pulled her attention away from the current shelf of books, and she leaned out into the main reading area, where Princess Flurry Heart was coming down the stairs to the nearest table.

"I think I found something. I always thought it was a memento of his years here, and I never bothered to read it, and it took some digging to find..." Flurry said as Luna came down to the table she took a seat at. The Crystal Princess pulled a book out of her saddlebags and gently set it on the table.

MUSINGS ON THE CRYSTAL HEART
By Crystaller Sunburst

"Sunburst wrote a book?" Luna asked.

"When I got older, and he had to do less and less for me on a daily basis, he had a lot of free time before Starlight offered him the position of Vice Headstallion of Twilight's friendship school. I guess this is what he did. Maybe he had a feeling I'd need this some day," Flurry said, as she slowly opened the front cover, coming to the very personalized preface on the first page:

My dearest Flurry Heart,

It has been a privilege, an adventure, and an honor seeing you grow these last few years. Knowing that my expertise of the arcane helped shape and guide you towards your future is a pride I will carry with me for the rest of my days.

I don't know if you will ever need the information contained within these pages, Flurry, but in case you do, I have endeavored to create a compilation of absolutely every bit of information I have ever found on the history and function of the Crystal Heart, which you have been destined to watch over.

If you ever find yourself in need of the knowledge I have gathered here, I pray it makes all the difference.

Best of luck, and all my love,
Sunburst

Flurry smiled gently at her mentor's message, and she turned the page again, to the contents he had listed out, and again to the first chapter.

The Crystal Heart is one of the most ancient and powerful magical artifacts in all of Equestria. It has deeper ties to the magical realm of Aetherius than even Grogar's Bewitching Bell, Aurora's Amulet, or the Helm of Yksler. Powered and sustained by the love of the Crystal Empire's citizens, the Heart's power of alteration is so great that is has made a considerable swath of the arctic north perfectly livable and protected from the normally fatally harsh weather of the region.

One has to wonder if it is always dependent on the love of the surrounding populace, though. Clearly, the Heart can be altered, and the surrounding area can still be protected, due to King Sombra's unfortunate reign. He had hidden the Crystal Heart away, and yet it still managed to keep the surrounding area livable.

The Crystal Heart itself is carved from pure aetherium. Shaping and handling that this element is best left to the most studied of mages, unless you care little for your corporeal form, and the stability of your immediate surroundings.

Another demonstration of the Heart's alteration properties is how it seems to 'crystalize' surrounding beings during expenditure of magical energy. Not in the petrifying sense, mind you, but the glimmering, sparkling, transparent sense. It is really quite fascinating.

Because of these transformative powers, it is my theory that the Heart has perhaps a stronger connection with Aetherius than perhaps any other artifact. If the time ever came that it wouldn't need to protect the Crystal Empire from the Frozen North's lethal weather, I would also theorize that it could no doubt be used for other purposes.

"Other purposes?" Luna said, reading Sunburst's opening passage after Flurry slid the book across to her.

"If very specific magic can put it back together after being shattered like it was, maybe magic can help... Turn it into something else. Into those three other gems," Flurry told Luna.

"That still doesn't solve the question of the Windigos. We should probably attempt to find material on that as well," Luna suggested.

"Good idea. I'll start on that, you continue reading through this to see how we could possibly use the Heart against them,"

Flurry got up from the table just as Spike was coming in with some drinks and snacks, figuring that the two Princesses would be in here for quite awhile.

"Spike, good. Get that stuff set on a separate table, and then help me find books with any entries on Windigos," Flurry told the dragon.

After an hour, they had a few books stacked on the center table, all of them from ancient explorers and modern-day archaeologists and historians.

The origins of the WIndigos was widely believed to be the Hearth's Warming fable of Snowfall Frost. But as was clearly revealed nearly a century ago when Canterlot was briefly invaded, the mythical bringers of the fatal freeze are very much real. With how the harmonious magic of Twilight, her friends, and her students banished them without a trace, I believe they originate from somewhere beyond the physical plane. Aetherius, perhaps, the source of all magic?

Flurry read the passage over again, and Luna noticed her begin to lose herself in thought.

"Flurry? Do you have something?" Luna asked.

"I'm... I'm not sure... But I did just think of something," the Crystal Princess replied.

"Do tell," the Princess of the Night responded.

"We're already fairly certain that we're not going to be able to put a stop to the unrest down south, and Equestrian magic is already beginning to fade, as evidenced by what happened to Cloudsdale."

"Yes, and?" Luna asked.

"What if... We preempted the rest of it? If we... Cut off Equus from Aetherius, the Windigos would vanish."

Spike and Luna looked at her with dumbfounded expressions.

"It would work, wouldn't it? No magic, no Windigos, right?" Flurry asked, sliding the open book towards Luna, who ignored it and continued staring at the Crystal Princess.

"Flurry... What you are suggesting, is precisely what Cozy Glow attempted when you were just a foal. It's preposterous," Luna answered.

"Is it? It would mean that when the unrest happens, that they won't be able to use magic against each other, and without Windigos, then there would always be the opportunity to heal those bonds. At least they would get the chance, instead of freezing or starving to death," Flurry argued.

"Child..." Luna began, only for Flurry to hold up a hoof.

"I am not a child anymore, Luna. I know what I am suggesting."

"Do you? Then allow me to be just as pragmatic. If the unrest down south is as inevitable as you claim, then do you honestly believe it would stop without magic? It would not, Flurry. If they don't use magic, they'll use hooves, and whatever they can get those hooves on. Do you understand?" Luna asked.

"Yes. I do. Rioting. Fighting. Civil war, maybe. It's frightening, and it breaks my heart knowing that that is where things are likely heading," Flurry said firmly. She pointed a hoof towards the nearest window. "But this storm is not stopping. So either we evacuate with the rest of our citizens, and try our best to avoid the bloodshed until we starve or freeze, or we try and follow our premonitions, and do what we can up here, to give them the hope and possibility of a future when the fires of hatred burn themselves out and the smoke clears."

Luna and Spike saw the undying determination in Flurry's eyes.

"So what is it going to be?"

Comments

[Venerable Ro]

Amusingly, without the Windigos to provide the blunt argument for unification, there's really nothing keeping the tribes together, especially once they lose the symbiotic relationship that their magic brings. The windigos enforce a hard limit on how bad the situation can get, through the simple expedient of naturally gravitating towards the most hateful and destructive members of Equestrian society once they're loose.

[Melody Song]

Clever Flurry. Great chapter!

[Comickook]

Hello there. Glad to see the next chapter of this story. Definitely quite well worth the wait. Appreciate the work that went into the exchange, characterizations and future chapter set-up in all the right places. Definitely though Flurry reading Sunburst's old notes was a beautifully bittersweet touch, as well as the information about the Windigos in addition to the greater detail on Flurry's plan (which actually DID work to a certain degree, even if it probably took centuries longer than Flurry planned on for the flames to die down).

VERY certainly looking forward to more of this. And I hope you and your family and friends have a safe and happy Thanksgiving (which is less than a week and a half away).

[Yoshifan30]

I will say that will be a very interesting Theory how come we never saw the wendigo's even during the time of the new generation that is a pretty clever idea from flurry heart but the thing is what is the cause of this whole situation I guess we'll find out next time

[PhycoKrusk]

11052481
Unfortunately, that hard limit is "everyone is frozen."

[DreadedCandiru2]

The fire might have burned out but there are lingering embers. One of them is always about to say "I know EXACTLY who this is!!!!" as he welcomes Bjork to The Masked Singer.

[Thranx]

Wait... Cutting off magic from Equus? Does that mean the Crystal Heart can no longer protect the Crystal Empire? So the city was either evacuated after magic was cut off or Flurry forgot that Crystal Heart's protection is a form of magic(love magic) so no evacuation and the weather froze the Crystal Empire entirely before they managed to evacuate everyone.

Boy, I hope they wouldn't go through with that plan, but the events of the present have shown otherwise. Maybe they didn't go through with the plan and magic just faded gradually and all Crystal Ponies moved south and integrated with the Earth Ponies there and eventually their race either faded or in small numbers due to them completely adopting Earth Ponies' tradition.

[Valiant Charge]

So choosing the lesser of two evils.

Lose magic or Equestria?

[milesprower06]

11052761
No, it's more along the lines of using any magic is enough to keep a horn warm. Should have worded that better.

[Iron Comet]

The end reminds me of the film 'Things to Come'

[EaglesFan1127]

It is really quire fascinating.
Ok, this typo is understandable, given that the letters 'R' and 'T' are right next to each other on the keyboard. Nevertheless, just thought I ought to let you know about it.

[milesprower06]

11078247
Fixed!

[BirdsBooksBrownies]

As much as I love ponies, even before the villainous trio of old Equestria it is quite clear that Friendship and Love among other things were often "for ponies, by ponies". Tribalism, Classism, and Speciesism didn't magically disappear during the first Hearth's Warming. And based on Flurry Heart and Luna's research nor did the Windigos.

[RDDash]

I bet Cozy wants an apology from all of them.

[ScisetShimmerEvan]

"When I got older, and he had to do less and less for me on a daily basis, he had a lot of free time before Starlight offered him the position of Vice Headstallion of Twilight's friendship school. I guess this is what he did. Maybe he had a feeling I'd need this some day," Flurry said, as she slowly opened the front cover, coming to the very personalized preface on the first page:

He probably did. Smart thinking of him.

"Flurry... What you are suggesting, is precisely what Cozy Glow attempted when you were just a foal. It's preposterous," Luna answered.

Agreed, it sounds too dangerous.

" Yes. I do. Rioting. Fighting. Civil war, maybe. It's frightening, and it breaks my heart knowing that that is where things are likely heading," Flurry said firmly. She pointed a hoof towards the nearest window. "But this storm is not stopping. So either we evacuate with the rest of our citizens, and try our best to avoid the bloodshed until we starve or freeze, or we try and follow our premonitions, and do what we can up here, to give them the hope and possibility of a future when the fires of hatred burn themselves out and the smoke clears."

It's worth a shot but I already have a bad feeling it might not work.