Chapter 12
The next morning as everyone was preparing for the Faire, royal guard pegasi pulling flying chariots arrived in the empire, and they had brought several doctors with them on separate chariots and those doctors brought medicine and some easily portable medical equipment.
Apparently it had been touch and go all night with Twilight having to stay up the entire time, keeping watch over Radiant Hope. Whenever something started to go wrong, she had to do everything in her limited power to keep the pony alive for just a little longer.
As soon as they arrived, the doctors immediately took over and started performing emergency surgery to save her.
The royal guard informed us that the princesses were currently busy but would be coming within the next couple of days.
I was currently sitting off to the side of the throne room in my changeling form. Apparently Twilight had explained my situation to Amore the previous night, while she was keeping Radiant Hope alive. So I could have taken my human form. But with Sombra still right outside the barrier, ready to attack, I wanted to be ready in case he pulled something and managed to get in or somehow manipulate the ponies still under the effects of his spell.
Having finally gotten some rest, Cadance temporarily took over maintaining the barrier again so Queen Amore could get rid of the crystals on Shining Armor's horn.
Amore cast a spell and the crystals vanished in a flash of light.
"I'm so sorry, Shining Armor. I should have gotten rid of those for you last night, but I got so caught up in everything else I hardly noticed they were there." Queen Amore apologized.
"It's no big deal, really. I didn't need to use my magic last night anyway. I just took Cadance to the kitchen for a light snack then we went to bed. Honestly, I'm just glad it wasn't permanent." Shining Armor said with a smile.
"Still, I should have noticed. You're my granddaughter's husband which makes you my grandson. Neglecting my grandson just won't do." Queen Amore told him. Her horn started glowing again. "Alright, dear. Thank you for taking over the barrier for a moment so I could undo Sombra's spell. I can take it from here."
Cadance shook her head. "Actually, grandma, now that I've had some food and rest I think I'm fine. I'm still a little tired, but I can manage. Besides, you've been up all night maintaining it even though you're the one who's going to use the Crystal Heart to try and save Sombra. So I'm more than happy to trade off for the day so you can conserve your energy for later."
"Well, if you're certain… But if it starts becoming too much of a strain on you again, let me know. I have plenty of energy left to maintain the barrier until the Crystal Heart is found."
"So, how much longer until this 'crystal faire' is ready? And you still haven't told me what I'm going to be doing." I asked.
Queen Amore chuckled and looked at me. "It shouldn't be too much longer, I'm sure. Once word starts to spread it will spread fast. As for your role in the faire, all you need to do is have fun! I do have something special planned, but you'll see later."
We waited around a bit longer until Twilight came back in and let us know everything was ready to go.
We all headed to a balcony where Pinkie Pie announced us with an ear splittingly bad use of a crystal flugelhorn.
"Hear ye, hear y—" Twilight was cut off as Pinkie Pie once again blew on her flugelhorn.
Everyone looked at her.
With a nervous chuckle she put the horn away. "My bad…"
"Ehem… Queen Amore does cordially invite you to attend the Crystal Faire!" Twilight announced, her voice echoing across the city.
"Thank you, Twilight. I will take it from here." Queen Amore said, stepping forwards to take Twilight's place on the balcony.
"My crystal ponies, I am happy to announce my return! As you all must know, before Sombra took over, he turned me to crystal and scattered my pieces across the Frozen North. However, thanks to the heroic efforts of Queen Weaver of the Changelings and her friends, my pieces were recovered and I have since been restored! You need not fear any longer! And to celebrate, I have decided that the Crystal Faire shall be held today!" Queen Amore declared to the Empire, magically enhancing her voice to be even louder than Twilight had been.
I could feel the confusion and anxiety in ponies all across the city starting to fade. It was quickly being replaced with excitement and joy. Though one emotion stood out above those two. Hope. Hope began to permeate the entire Crystal Empire.
"Now, while I am aware it may be unusual, the Crystal Heart is currently with me inside the Castle where it will remain until the end of this year's Faire. As the Empire has been banished for the past thousand years, my newest Granddaughter Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and her husband Prince Shining Armor have never undergone their Crystalings, thus I am having them attune with the Crystal Heart in a slightly different way. They will be done quite soon, I assure you. At which point the Crystal Heart will be returned to its proper place and later there shall be a grand unveiling near the end of the Faire! Until then, I simply request that you all remain patient."
A lie, but a necessary one. They were trying to avoid causing a panic after all.
"In the meantime, enjoy yourselves!"
With that done, we all headed back inside as the crowds of ponies outside cheered.
"What now?" I asked.
"Now, we go enjoy the faire while Twilight searches for the Crystal Heart." Queen Amore stated.
"Are you sure it's here in the castle? We didn't see anything like it when Weaver was leading us to your pieces that Sombra had kept in here." Twilight asked.
Amore nodded. "I'm quite certain. I can't pinpoint its exact whereabouts but I can sense it's nearby. It's too close to be anywhere besides here in the castle."
"I can't sense it myself, so I can't help or I would." I stated.
Queen Amore frowned. "Indeed… I find that quite odd, actually. The Crystal Heart is full of love, so I would have thought you of all ponies would have been able to sense it, Weaver. Especially as we have proven you can feed on love stored in diamonds. He must have had issues removing the barrier it created and put wards in place to limit its ability to radiate love and light. At least, so I suspect."
Twilight shook her head. "That's fine. You've done more than enough. This is supposed to be my test anyway. Princess Celestia made it very clear that I'm supposed to do this by myself. So, no offense, but I actually don't want any more help with this. And I suppose it does make a lot of sense that he would hide it here. What pony would have dared tried looking for it here in the castle when he was King? Anyways, I promise I'll get the Crystal Heart to you before the end of the Faire! You can count on me!"
I could sense displeasure from Amore when Twilight mentioned Celestia's test. Though she hid it well and smiled at Twilight, "I'm sure I can." She then looked at me. "Now, Weaver, would you care to accompany me for the Faire?" Amore requested.
I shrugged. "Sure. It's not like I have anything better to do right now."
"Excellent! While this year's Faire shall be small and impromptu compared to those of the past, I'm certain it will still be quite fun! Cadance, Shining Armor, I apologize that you won't be able to experience this year's Crystal Faire with us."
"It's fine, grandma. Shiny and I don't mind at all." Cadance stated.
I felt sadness radiating from Amore as she shook her head. "It's not fine and I mind. It would have been an excellent opportunity to get to know the both of you. The fact that I missed your entire foalhood and your marriage pains me, Cadance dear… Knowing you used to be an orphan only makes that worse. So I want to bond with you two. Unfortunately the circumstances don't permit it… Though, I shall make it up to you two next year. That I promise!"
Cadance hugged Amore and the Queen returned the embrace. "That actually means a lot to me. Thank you… Well, Shining Armor and I will be looking forward to it."
"As will I." Amore said with a smile.
"Before you two go, Weaver, would you mind if I had a word with you in private? It won't take long." Shining Armor asked. His emotions felt… odd. I couldn't quite pin down what he was feeling exactly.
"Sure. You mind waiting for a minute, your highness?" I asked, looking at Amore.
"Of course, and you needn't be so formal, Weaver. You saved me, risking your life to do so. Thus I consider you a friend. So please, just call me Amore." She requested with a friendly smile. I could feel love coming from her, directed towards me.
I nodded then followed Shining Armor off to the side.
Once we were just out of earshot of everyone else he stopped and looked at me. With a sigh he said, "I wanted to apologize… Yesterday, when I criticized the way you handle things with violence all I could think about were the bodies of those changelings. I saw them myself, after the fact. It sort of colored my impression of you in a pretty bad light, especially with my and Cadance's history with Changelings. But… You risked your life and nearly died trying to save Twilight and get the last piece of Queen Amore. Because of you, Cadance has a grandma now, when she never even had parents before. I'm sure you can sense how happy and excited she's been all morning, right?"
I nodded, not saying anything.
He looked over at Cadance and smiled, filled with love and happiness. He then looked at the floor and rubbed the back of his head with his hoof. "I guess what I'm trying to say here is… I misjudged you. I still don't like how far you're willing to go, but you aren't a monster like Chrysalis. And I wanted to thank you, for saving Twilight and for giving Cadance a chance to have something like a parental figure for the first time in her life."
"I thought Celestia was her aunt or something?" I asked.
Shining Armor gave me an uncertain look. "Well, Celestia did adopt her as a niece after she became an Alicorn, but she's not exactly much of a mother figure. Don't get me wrong, she's a great teacher and mentor, but she never really treats Cadance or even Blueblood like family. It's kinda why Blueblood turned out the way he did. Celestia wasn't very involved with him, his parents, their parents, and so on as they were growing up. From what I've seen, she likes to keep ponies at a distance. So, no. Cadance never had anypony even resembling a mother before. Not even Celestia. So, while she and Amore only just met, I can already tell this means the world to Cadance."
"For what it's worth, judging by her emotions, it means just as much to Amore. She's incredibly sad about something. I can't say what specifically, I'm just an empath not a mind reader. Though I could tell she really doesn't like the fact Cadance was orphaned. So… Do with that information what you will, I suppose." I told him.
He nodded. "Thanks for telling me. It's good to know Amore cares just as much as Cadance. Anyway, that's all I wanted to say. I won't keep you any longer."
We turned and rejoined the group. Then I left with Amore. As we were walking through the castle, however, she said, "I actually wanted to have a word with you as well, Weaver."
"What's up?"
"It's about what happened in the Shadow Prison. Can you explain to me the steps you took to cast that spell?" Amore asked.
"Oookay… Well, I had no idea how to use love magic. I was trying to figure it out the entire time we were trying to collect your pieces, whenever we had to fight off Sombra. We were all about to die, so I tried throwing everything against the wall to see what sticks. I tried forcibly dragging the love I had consumed out of me, and I tried to picture some people I used to love back where I'm originally from. People I'll never see again, but I still love them. And I tried channeling those emotions through my horn. Then I cast the spell." I explained.
"That sounds about correct… Well, except the part about you trying to forcibly drag the love out of yourself. That's completely wrong. So, what were you trying to do with the love? What was the intent you had when you cast the spell?"
"My intent? Everyone was about to die, so my intent was to kill as many of them as possible so I could save everyone and get us the hell out of there. Why?" I asked, not understanding this line of questioning.
"That right there is where you went wrong. That's why the spell cost you so much energy. Love isn't meant to be used as a weapon. It's a tool to heal and protect, not to hurt. Think of it like… lodestones."
"Lodestones, you mean magnets?" I asked.
"If that's what they're called now, I suppose. Well, one side of the 'magnet' attracts one side of the other magnet. However, if you rotate one of the magnets they will repel each other. It's much like that. When love is used for positive means, it's easy. It can achieve truly wondrous and even miraculous things. However, if it's used to hurt somepony it will resist. Like with magnets, if you push hard enough they will still touch but it requires much more force than if you were to use the sides that attract. So while it can be forced, it requires significantly more energy. So in trying to use it as a weapon to destroy the Umbrum rather than say a shield to protect your friends, you were using it wrong. The fact you were using it as a weapon to protect your friends as much as destroy the Umbrum very likely saved your life."
"Huh… That explains why it felt wrong…" I muttered.
Amore nodded.
"So, is that why you want to redeem Sombra rather than executing or imprisoning him?"
Amore shook her head. "Of course not. If I believed there was no good in Sombra, I would use the Crystal Heart to force him into the Shadow Prison with the rest of his kind. Then I would find a way to change the Prison so the Umbrum couldn't bypass it in the same way ever again. I'm no fool, Weaver. I want to redeem Sombra because there is good in him. He simply doesn't even realize it himself."
She then stopped and sighed as a deep painful sadness ran through her. "Weaver, Twilight informed me you're immortal as well. So when you have foals of your own perhaps you'll understand just how much he took from me… After I realized I wasn't aging, my grand foals were my single greatest joy in the world… The one thing I had to truly look forward to… But because of him, entire generations of my great grand foals lived and died without me… One thousand years worth of my descendants, and I never had the chance to know any of them… To laugh and smile with them. To see them grow up. To get married. To have foals of their own… And I'll never get that back… He stole all of that from me… So much love, so many potential cherished memories, everything… I'll never even know their names or get to see their portraits…"
Queen Amore was in tears, her voice shaking. I could tell she was barely holding back from breaking out into sobs. The sheer pain and grief she felt was immense. The most I had felt from anyone so far. It was so intense I could taste it whether I wanted to or not. I almost felt like I was about to choke on it. If we were on Earth Bet, I was absolutely certain she would have had a trigger event right then and there.
I mentally cursed my damned magic empathy. Without it, I could have just offered some words of condolence or something. But practically suffocating on the overwhelming miasma of grief pouring from her, I sat down and wrapped my forelegs around her in a tight hug. I felt extremely awkward and a bit embarrassed doing this, but it was painfully obvious to me that she needed it.
"I'm sorry." I told her. I wasn't sure what else to say. What could I say? How the hell was I supposed to deal with this situation? I barely knew her, yet here I was trying to comfort her with a hug.
Queen Amore returned the embrace and couldn't hold back her tears anymore. She started crying.
She cried for several minutes. At some point, a member of the castle staff overheard the crying and came to see what was happening. I just shook my head at them. They took the hint, nodded at me, and let us be.
After a few more minutes, Queen Amore started to calm down and released me. She summoned a handkerchief and wiped her eyes with it. "I… I'm sorry, Weaver… T-thank you for… l-lending me your shoulder…" She sniffled.
"Sure… I get it. I may not quite comprehend your exact situation, but I've had more than my fair share of grief. Maybe I'll tell you about it some other time… For now, at least you have Cadance, hm?" I said, trying to be understanding and sympathetic. She had apparently only heard of changelings through rumors as they first started to come onto the world stage a thousand years ago. So I knew it was highly unlikely she knew spells to obscure her emotions, which made me confident that everything I was sensing from her was completely genuine. So I knew she genuinely needed someone to comfort her right then.
She gave me a weak smile. "Yes… At… At least I have her… I merely wish… that I had been there for her when she was an orphaned foal… I wasn't here for her when… when she needed me the most…" She said as she started calming down more and more.
"Well, you're here for her now. That's what matters, right? And she's an alicorn, which makes her immortal like you. So you have plenty of time to get to know her, and you won't outlive her."
'She'll outlive Shining Armor, though.' I thought to myself though I didn't voice this.
Amore's smile strengthened a bit. "Indeed…" She then looked down at the ground. "Weaver… I bring all this up not because I wish to burden you with my sorrows… Rather I bring it up because, despite all of that… Despite everything he has done and all he has taken from me… I forgive him."
My eyes widened. "How?" I asked, completely taken aback because I knew she was telling the truth. Helping him redeem himself was one thing but actually forgiving him. I couldn't comprehend it. How could she possibly forgive him? I thought back to the Trio and tried to imagine ever forgiving them, and I just couldn't. I had moved on, certainly, but forgiving them? Hell no. The same could be said for Coil, Alexandria, Tagg, or Jack Slash. "By all rights you should hate him. You should at least be angry! How can you just forgive him after everything he's done?" I couldn't sense either anger or hate in her. Not even so much as a speck.
She shook her head. "No… Anger and hate solve nothing… They won't undo what he has done and won't ease my pain. Nothing ever will, save perhaps time… I forgive him, for a lot of different reasons… Because he's merely lost, hurt, and angry and is lashing out as a result. Because he's been lied to and manipulated by Rabia, the Umbrum who should have been his mother. Because of my own failings in how I handled him. Because he believes he has no choice but to be this way, because of whatever he saw within the Crystal Heart and Rabia's manipulation… While it would be so easy to just blame everything on him and resent him for it, ultimately he is as much a victim in this as any pony else…"
She looked at me. "Forgiveness and reconciliation are the only ways in which this ends without further suffering."
I shook my head. "I don't think I could do it in your situation, knowing everything you're feeling right now."
"Perhaps not. Forgiveness can be difficult, especially when somepony has taken so much from you. Sometimes, a pony may not even deserve it. But often, it's for the best no matter how difficult it may be. It's an important ability to have." Queen Amore stated. She then sighed. "I'm sorry, Weaver. I've ruined the mood, it seems. We should be out enjoying the Crystal Faire. Not speaking on such depressing matters."
"No, it's fine. I get it… You still want to go to the Faire?"
Amore nodded. "Lets…"
We continued on our way and left the castle. As we walked around the city, I could sense the hope and joy blooming in everyone who saw Queen Amore. I could sense their emotions returning to normal as their positive emotions let them start shaking off Sombra's spell.
Some ponies came up to us and talked to us, but most mercifully kept a respectful distance. We weren't being swarmed like I had half expected us to be.
The Faire itself really wasn't my thing if I was being honest. But I went along with it to humor Queen Amore. I needed political allies, so trying to be friendly with Amore was in my best interest. Plus… well… I could tell she actually wanted to be my friend and I was 95% certain it was genuine. The 5% uncertainty was mainly my own self consciousness and paranoia, and I knew it. I just couldn't help it. And knowing with certainty that someone wanted to be my friend was one hell of a change from what I was used to. I didn't think I'd ever be as close with her as I was with the Undersiders, but that wasn't a fair comparison to begin with. Still, it would be nice having someone I could actually trust to some extent for once here in this world.
I saved her life, so I'd damn well better be able to trust her anyway.
At some point we saw Rainbow Dash jousting with Fluttershy and after watching Fluttershy get knocked back through the air with ease I decided to have some mercy on Fluttershy and take her place in the jousting match.
"You're going to joust?" Queen Amore asked me in surprise.
"It's better than watching Fluttershy get her butt kicked over and over again. That's not a fair match. So I might as well. Unless that's a problem?" I said as I stepped out onto the ring.
"Oh no. Not at all. In fact, it'll be quite amusing I'm sure." Amore said with a smile.
"So, you wanna challenge me, huh, Weaver? Well, game on!" Rainbow declared.
"I'm a lot bigger than you so let's make this a bit more fair." I morphed into the form of a pegasus.
A few minutes later I was wearing a suit of armor and had a lance strapped to my side. A couple months ago, if someone had told me I would be dressed up in medieval armor taking part in a jousting tournament in the body of a pegasus, I would have said they were high on some kind of drugs. Yet here I was…
Pinkie Pie blew her Flugelhorn, actually succeeding in blowing a coherent note instead of making some awful noise like she had earlier. Rainbow and I charged at each other.
My lance collided with Rainbow, knocking her down. Her lance hit me but glanced off of my armor.
She got up and glared at me. She wasn't angry but I could sense her getting competitive.
"We're going again!"
"If you insist."
We jousted a few more times. I knocked her down several times and she knocked me down a couple of times too. Ultimately, we ended it in a draw. Rainbow wasn't particularly happy with that result, but I wasn't gonna stay there jousting all day.
"That was quite fun! I wish I could have joined in and challenged you myself. Alas we don't have suits of armor that would fit either of our fairly large statures, considering we are both quite a bit larger than my knights. Hm… Perhaps we should get our measurements taken so I can commission two suits of armor from a blacksmith. That way we shall have them ready for next time!" Queen Amore suggested.
"Uh… Are you sure that's a good idea?" I asked uncertainly. I didn't exactly want to joust with Queen Amore. I was worried about any political ramifications it might have if I beat her. It might make me look bad to the Crystal Ponies who I could tell adored her. Plus if she was a sore loser it might ruin any chances I had at making allies with the Empire. And then there was a chance she might get hurt which was a whole other issue entirely.
"Of course! What? Do you think I'm so delicate that I might injure myself? Come now, Weaver, just because I was turned to crystal and shattered doesn't mean I'm made of glass. Nor would I hold it against you if I lost. If, being the key word. I'm quite confident I could thoroughly trounce you in a match."
"Didn't take you for being particularly competitive." I stated.
"No, but that doesn't mean I'm incapable of having fun. Besides which, I believe my Crystal Ponies would quite enjoy the novelty of witnessing two Queens partaking in a friendly spar, or in sport of any kind really. It could be a special event in the Crystal Faire, every so often. Queen Amore of the Crystal Empire against Queen Weaver of the Changeling Hive." Amore said humorously.
"I don't know about making it a regular thing, especially not jousting specifically, but maybe." I said. I was almost tempted to make a joke but I held back. I wasn't nearly as clever or witty as Alec, Lisa, or Aisha and I didn't want to embarrass myself.
"Maybe, hm? I suppose I'll take that as a 'Yes, Amore, I shall indeed joust with you in the future'. Very well! Come, I know an excellent blacksmith to commission our suits of armor from!" Amore said, before turning and leading me through the city towards the blacksmith she had in mind.
I could tell she was having a lot of fun with the Crystal Faire. Which was good, I supposed.
Eventually, I felt an incredibly powerful source of love appear seemingly out of thin air inside the castle.
"I think Twilight just found the Crystal Heart." I said quietly so Amore would be the only one who could hear me.
She nodded. "Indeed. I sense it as well. It seems we'll have to cut this short then. A shame. I was enjoying myself… Let's return, for now."
We started heading back to the castle. By the time we got back, we found Twilight, Spike, Shining Armor, and Cadance all standing next to the Crystal Heart. Except it was covered in a blanket. Likely for the grand unveiling later that Queen Amore had announced. It was difficult being so close to such a powerful source of Love. It was hard to resist the urge to drain it dry, but I did. I couldn't lose control of myself now and ruin everything.
"I see you have successfully retrieved the Crystal Heart. Excellent work, Twilight Sparkle. Where was it, exactly?" Amore asked as we approached.
"King Sombra had a hidden staircase in the throne room, protected by powerful dark magic. There were a ton of different spells and wards protecting it, way stronger and more complex than any of them he put on your pieces. He really didn't want anypony getting it." Twilight explained.
"I see. That does make sense. The Crystal Heart is by far the most powerful tool that could be used against him. Save perhaps the Elements of Harmony. So it stands to reason he would go to such lengths to protect it. We do have time until the grand unveiling so, if you wouldn't mind, tell me all about it while we wait as I am quite curious." Amore requested.
Twilight happily began explaining the whole mini-adventure she and Spike went on to retrieve the Crystal Heart. It wasn't even half as dangerous as our journey to collect Amore's pieces, but it was still quite the story.
I had to warn everyone whenever a pony was getting too close, just so the conversation wouldn't be overheard. Fortunately that only happened a few times.
However, once the Crystal Ponies started to notice us a crowd slowly started to gather. Eagerness, excitement, and immense amounts of both hope and love began to build and build as time went on. It seemed that everyone was expecting the grand unveiling soon.
After about an hour it was evening, the sun was starting to set, and the crowd had grown huge. The sheer volume of love and hope was overwhelmingly intense. It was almost as if everyone in the entire city was present, which I was pretty sure they very well may have been.
Eventually Queen Amore cleared her throat and using magic to enhance her voice she announced, "My Crystal Ponies, we are beginning to near the end of this year's Crystal Faire. And with that, I promised you a grand unveiling of the Crystal Heart! And thus, that is exactly what I shall deliver to you. You have suffered in my absence, and for that I am deeply sorry. As you all are already far too aware, King Sombra turned me to crystal, shattered me, scattered my pieces, stole the Crystal Heart and took the throne. Casting wicked spells to force you all into subservience. Well, as you can plainly see, I am back! And with me is the Crystal Heart!"
She grabbed the blanket with a telekinetic spell and pulled it away, revealing the Crystal Heart.
All of the ponies in the gathered crowd began to cheer loudly. Their already heightened emotions absolutely skyrocketing.
Queen Amore took it off the pedestal it was on and levitated it into the middle of a symbol on the ground, beneath the center of the castle. Two glowing crystal spikes emerged from the ground and bottom of the castle, the Crystal Heart floating between them.
Light began to spread out across the crystalline ground. The crowd gathered around bowed to Queen Amore and the Crystal Heart. The last of Sombra's spell shaken off entirely and the crystal ponies grew sparkly and seemed to gain facets similar to a crystal, much like Amore. The Crystal Heart began to spin, growing brighter and brighter as astonishingly massive amounts of love surged through the ground and flooded into it. The love and light began to expand outwards like a rapidly growing bubble.
Surprisingly, Cadance, Shining Armor, Twilight, her friends, and even myself and Spike changed in much the same way as the crystal ponies as the bubble passed over us. Except some of the mane styles they had changed, while mine stayed the same.
Though in my case it had an extra effect, besides making me look as though I was made of crystal or changing my hair. I gasped as I was absolutely inundated with love energy. It felt like I had just drained hundreds of ponies completely dry all at once. I felt my strength and power grow exponentially. It was completely overwhelming, intoxicating even.
I felt dizzy.
Then I heard Queen Amore talking again.
"Now, I have some ponies I would like to thank for their valiant and heroic efforts that made all of this possible. Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and Prince Shining Armor, my dear granddaughter and her beloved husband, please step forward."
Cadance and Shining Armor stepped forward to stand next to Amore. The crowds cheered for them.
"In my absence, you both stepped up to protect the Crystal Empire. Shining Armor, you patrolled the Frozen North for threats, keeping a close eye on Sombra. And Cadance, without the Crystal Heart to protect the Empire, you worked tirelessly night and day to generate the barrier to Protect my Crystal Ponies and keep Sombra out. You both have my deepest thanks. And though we may have only just met, Cadance, you are a descendant of my great grand foal who escaped the Crystal Empire during Sombra's reign. Therefore, for your efforts and as is your right by blood, I recognize you as a Princess of the Crystal Empire and my heir apparent, should anything ever happen to me again. Further, you and your husband are more than welcome to stay with me in my castle here in the Empire, and I am willing to grant you your own land should you wish it."
Cadance smiled and whispered to Shining Armor for a moment before looking back at Queen Amore. "We're truly honored. Thank you, Grandma. We would be more than happy to stay with you for as long as you would have us. We will decline the offer of land, at least for now, though we appreciate the gesture."
"Very well. I look forward to getting to know you both!" Queen Amore said with a smile.
Cadance and Shining Armor returned the smile before stepping back.
"Next, Twilight Sparkle, the student and personal protege of Princess Celestia of Equestria. Please, step forward."
Twilight stepped up and stood next to Queen Amore.
"Twilight Sparkle, though you may have been sent here for reasons I disagree with, you personally located the Crystal Heart and brought it back to me! Without you, this Crystal Faire would not be possible and defending the Crystal Empire from the threat of the Umbrum would be significantly more difficult! On top of that, you dispelled the wards Sombra had placed upon my scattered pieces so they could be retrieved. For your efforts, you have my deepest thanks."
"It was my pleasure, your majesty." Twilight said before returning to where she'd been standing. That surprised me a bit. I'd half expected Amore to grant her a title of nobility or something. Then again, she was related to Shining Armor and by extension Cadance. So I supposed that made her royalty by proxy.
"Last, but certainly not least, Queen Weaver of the Changelings. Please, step forward."
I did so, albeit reluctantly. I didn't particularly enjoy being in front of huge crowds like this.
"Queen Weaver, it is only because of you that my pieces were ever found. Without you, no pony would have ever realized I was still alive nor would they ever have been able to locate my pieces. You risked your life, leading Twilight and her friends all across the Frozen North with Sombra hunting you the entire time. You selflessly put yourself at risk, sacrificing your own health and wellbeing to keep Twilight and her friends safe. You even bravely lead them into the Shadow Prison to reclaim my final piece so that I could be restored, and very nearly sacrificed your own life to save Twilight Sparkle and her friends from the Umbrum within! In fact… Would you six girls care to recount the tale of Weaver's heroism for all to hear so that her deeds may truly be given the recognition they deserve?"
I looked at her in surprise. "What are you doing?!" I hissed at Amore as Twilight and her friends stepped forwards and began regaling the crowd with our little misadventure in the Frozen North. I was not at all pleased by this turn of events.
"Making the whole Empire love you. Pinkie Pie informed me of your unfortunate dietary situation last night. I know the troubles you have acquiring love to feed on and the fact you are terribly worried about whether or not you will be able to feed your foals when you have them. So I thought, if my Crystal Ponies knew all you did to save me and the Crystal Empire as a whole, they would be more than willing to donate love to your Hive. It can be stored in diamond, much like the method I used to feed you when you were unconscious and starving to death last night. So I discussed it with Twilight and the rest of her friends. Each of them agreed with this. I told you I have something special planned, and this is it! You will be recognized as a hero within the Crystal Empire!" Queen Amore said, with a smile.
I grimaced and looked out at the Crystal Ponies. As Twilight and the others talked, I could feel more and more love being directed towards me. It was working. I didn't like it, but it was working… I supposed my feeding problem was about to be solved, whether I liked it or not…
It wasn't that I wanted to starve, obviously, but I didn't like having this much of a spotlight on me. I would have preferred to find another solution. Something that put less attention on me. A donation system was fine, but I would have preferred it to be like blood donations back on Earth Bet. Completely detached and impersonal. A business transaction, essentially.
When Twilight and the others were finished telling their story, the crowd was cheering wildly, making me extremely uncomfortable.
"Thank you, girls! Queen Weaver, have you any words for my Crystal Ponies?" Amore asked me.
"Just this. I didn't do any of that alone. All six of them were there helping me that entire time. They deserve just as much if not more recognition than me." I stated, as Amore enhanced my own voice so everyone could hear me. Unfortunately it seemed like the Crystal Ponies thought I was just being humble as I felt barely any increase in the love directed towards Twilight and her friends rather than towards me.
Amore chuckled and looked back at the crowd. "Queen Weaver, for your heroic deeds, you have my deepest thanks. You can consider the Crystal Empire firm allies of your hive and if you are willing I would love to count you amongst my personal friends."
"Uh… Thank you, and I'm happy to accept your friendship, Queen Amore." I said, trying my hardest to play along. God this was so incredibly awkward.
Queen Amore's smile grew significantly and I could feel joy and love radiating from her. "Wonderful! With that, I will bring this unveiling to a close. Queen Weaver, Twilight Sparkle, and Princess Cadance please step forwards one final time." Queen Amore requested.
I walked away from Amore and stood a few feet in front of her. Cadance and Twilight lined up next to me.
"Everypony, let our heroes hear your love and appreciation!" Queen Amore called out.
The crowd began cheering one final time.
Cadance smiled and waved, as did Twilight. I forced a smile and waved at the crowd, following their lead.
This went on for several seconds before Queen Amore said, "Thank you all for coming to witness the unveiling of the Crystal Heart and for congratulating our heroes! Please enjoy the rest of your evening!"
The crowd kept cheering as all of us headed back into the castle.
Once we were inside Amore looked at me and said, "I'm sorry for springing that on you so suddenly, Weaver. I thought it would be something you would be happy about, so I wanted it to be a surprise. I didn't intend to put you in an awkward situation. So I apologize for any discomfort I caused."
"It's fine… I know you meant well. Don't get me wrong. I appreciate the gesture and I'm grateful I don't have to be super worried about food anymore. Just… Please just warn me before you do anything like that again." I asked.
She smiled and nodded. "You may count on it!"
"Thank you… I don't mean to worry anyone but I should probably mention, I feel kinda weird after that love blast from the Crystal Heart." I stated. And I really did feel weird. It wasn't just the massive influx of power either. I didn't know what it was.
Twilight gave me a concerned look. "Are you okay? The doctors the Princesses sent should be done with Radiant Hope's surgery by now. So we might be able to have them give you a check up."
"If they aren't busy, that might be a good idea… It doesn't hurt or anything so it's probably not super important, so it can probably wait. For now, we have the Crystal Heart and we charged it with the Crystal Faire. So what next?" I asked.
"Next, we wait until nightfall. Then I'll take the Crystal Heart and confront Sombra." Queen Amore stated. I could feel her resolve and determination.
"I'll be coming with you. That thing with the Crystal Heart basically super charged me with love. So I have more energy to spare than I've ever had since coming here. If it seems like it's going bad, or he can't be reasoned with, I'm going to do whatever I have to." I stated.
"And I suppose I'll be maintaining the barrier while you two are out fighting. I suppose I should have dinner and get a quick nap before then while the Crystal Heart is maintaining the barrier for us." Cadance said, looking between me and Amore.
Amore nodded. "Very well. Though, Weaver, I ask that you don't do anything drastic unless I give the word or if I fail and something happens to me. I would rather this end without any bloodshed."
"Fine. I can do that. If you really can redeem him, that's great. If not, I still think putting him back in the Shadow Prison would be best. I don't like killing if I don't have to do it. I'm willing to if I have to, but I'd prefer not to." I stated.
"Then we're in agreement. Now, let's go have the doctors see to you. It wouldn't do to have you put yourself at risk helping me battle Sombra if exposure to the Crystal Heart caused you any serious harm." Amore said, before turning and walking ahead, leading us all back to the infirmary.
Stats
Page generated in 0.026 seconds
Total duration
981 users online
211,921 hits today, 1,872,792 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Merry Christmas, and thanks for the great chapter.^^
im going to stop reading this until I finish Worm.
...her metamorphosis is nigh, isn't it?
I am very interested in this Queen Amore. I'd hope we will get to see her after the crystal empire arc end.
And a boxing match between her and Celestia of course! Hope it won't be a letdown like Zucc V Musk.
to trigger event? I don't know anything about the Worm universe (beyond what you and Weaver have said), so would you mind explaining this?
The period is missing at the end of the sentence.
I have never felt so connected to a fictional character as I do now with Weaver. Her reaction to such a public event and being put in the spotlight was so relatable.
11783694
A trigger event, also known as a crisis point, a point-zero, or simply a trigger, is the moment a parahuman gains their superhuman abilities. Specifically, this would be a Natural Trigger. A natural trigger event is accomplished through a traumatic experience.
For example, Taylor had a natural trigger event. She had been bullied relentlessly for two years, one of her bullies being her former best friend. All of that leading up to her bullies shoving her in a locker filled with used, rotting pads and tampons. Inside with her were a ton of bugs. So in her mind she wanted to get the bugs off of her, this lead to her triggering with a power that let her control bugs. And then, because there were so many all around her and she didn't know what she was connected to, she panicked even harder and had a second trigger that gave her extreme multitasking abilities, so she would have an easier time controlling all of her bugs.
So when Taylor says if they were on Earth Bet Queen Amore would have had a trigger event, she's saying that Queen Amore is in such extreme emotional and mental distress that it would have qualified for a trigger event, if she had a corona pollentia. The structure in a parahuman's brain that connects them with their shard and thus their powers.
Thanks for pointing that out! Fixed!
11783124
That or 'Congratulations, you have eggs!"
Oh? I's weaver now going to go threw a molt and emerge a new being? I'm kinda hoping for a more stylish version of what thorax became.
But overall I'm just hoping that weaver gets a true friend soon.
The queens a good start.
Also when can we expect the firt clutch of eggs? I'd love to see baby versions of the new changeling.
11784293
derpicdn.net/img/view/2017/6/20/1467262.png
derpicdn.net/img/view/2019/6/10/2062316.png
like this?
The only problem i have with good new fanfictions is having to wait between chapters haha.
A great chapter as awlays, i liked having this one be less grim than the lasts few and i hope our dear changeling queen will be able to heal a bit from her trauma and accept Amore's friendship.
I really like this story UwU
Amore is just a lovely pony xD
Weaver needs some of that friendship
I think that Taylor Herbert is almost Like Shadow the Hedgehog,
The Story is so good conttinue
I thought she was missing a foreleg?
(Crossposted from SpaceBattles)
I have many things I would like to ask:
First, since some of the aspects from the IDW comics canon are being used, has The Return of Queen Chrysalis story arc happened yet?
I personally headcanon it as taking place after The Crystal Empire two-parter but the wiki says it takes place in between Season 2 and Season 3, which I personally doubt, if only because the first issue was published 18 days after The Crystal Empire originally aired. That, and the Mane 6 have two confrontations with Queen Chrysalis back to back, let alone prior to defeating yet another Big Bad, is something that fails to adhere to my suspension of disbelief. If you do adapt that story arc, I hope it comes next, so Taylor and Chrysalis finally meet face to face.
Speaking of which, secondly, based on this passage:
Chrysalis and Taylor have yet to meet! I wonder what Chrysalis might see in Taylor's gaze, will she recognize that the new other Changeling Queen has done dark things? What if Chrysalis decides to see Taylor as an equal? What if she tries to tempt Taylor into returning to prior habits?
The possibilities are endless!
Thirdly, my final question is based not only on this:
But also on some of my own personal gripes as a brony, because I really hope you are not hinting towards the Changelings 'redemption' from To Where and Back Again, because I hate it so much! Not only did it just throw away the fact that Chrysalis genuinely works to ensure that her Changeling hive prospers, but the redesign destroys any messages about not judging based on appearance.
But the thing I hate the most of the 'redemption' is that they now feed on their love for each other. They feed on their own kind. That is cannibalism. Which means that with the end of Season 9 and the Grand Finale of Friendship is Magic, Chrysalis is canonically the only non-cannibalistic Changeling.
11796220
She regrew it when she molted in the chapter leading up to the Crystal Empire. Chapter 8, I believe?
While I'm here I might as well say, sorry the next chapter's taking so long everyone. I wanted to work on another story. On top of that I'm trying hard to get Queen Amore's interaction with Sombra right. Out of everything in the coming chapter, I want that interaction to be as good as I can get it.
And thank you to everyone offering constructive criticism. It would take awhile to respond to all of it, so just know I have read through it all and I appreciate it. I'll try to work on the things you guys brought up going forwards.
11800604
Oh yeah. I somehow missed that. My bad. Thanks for taking the time to clarify. Looking forward to the next chapter!
Thanks again T-S for another amazing chapter. I'm really enjoying this Crystal empire arc of the story since you've added Princes Amore and her rescue/release into the story. I've never actually seen Amore show up as a topic/main point in any HIE or similar fanfics which covers the Crystal empire arc of canon, so reading these few chapters have been a novel experience. I'm really excited to see how Amore's appearance influences canon since she has a good relationship with Weaver and seems to have a chip on her withers when in comes to Celestia's ........ lets say unorthodox methods in handling the task of freeing the crystal empire from Sombra's clutches. I eagerly await your next chapter, and which you the best of luck writing it. Cheers!
Oh good your still working on this! I read the replies after finishing this chap, was worried cause iv read a lot of stories that just fall off the planet after a month of no updates...
Love this story great work! Minor thing it's the Crystal Empire so wouldn't Amore be an Empress not Queen?
Ah darn I'm caught up, hopefully it'll be updated again soon *nudge nudge*
Hey everyone, sorry for the hiatus. I got caught up in other projects. I'm gonna try and start this back up, but I'll need a bit more time. I need to re-read it and get caught back up. My mind's all focused on Berserk and Warhammer right now, since I just spent the past month writing a Berserk and 40k crossover pretty much non-stop. I need to get in the headspace for MLP and Worm. That should only take a day or two. Then I need to finish writing the chapter. So, expect it some time in the next week or so.
11825982
She was referred to as "Crystal Empire's First Queen" or something to that effect in the episode where Twilight found out about the Crystal Faire.