Picking Up The Pieces
Apr. 4th, 2016 11:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
twilightponyRemember what happened to us a few moons ago during the Crystal Empire Winter Festival? Well, my guess is that our flash back then did more than provide a light show. But more on that later.
All six of us, plus Spike and Starlight Glimmer, boarded the train to the Crystal Empire this morning. Although he's not part of the ceremony, Spike's a national hero in the Crystal Empire. A royal crystalling is an important event, so of course he went.
We were going for the crystalling and to see the foal, and Starlight Glimmer went with us because I found out that it's Starlight Glimmer's Sunburst who had moved to the Crystal Empire. Since he had been her best friend when she was a foal, I calculated that rekindling that friendship should be a breeze. It's not like Starlight Glimmer had broken his heart or anything.
When we arrived at the station in the Crystal Empire, my brother was waiting for us. He was also asleep on his hooves. Now I had thought that I could go with Starlight Glimmer and coach her through her first lesson, and then catch up with the others in time for the crystalling. I had a checklist of catalysts and approaches at the ready. I was prepared. What I wasn't prepared for was a brother who was half delirious from lack of sleep. Don't they have help at the castle? Nannies? Foal sitters? So, change of plan. We'd all help with the foal and give my brother and Cadence a break. I wouldn't coach Starlight Glimmer through her first real lesson. But then Spike saved the day.
Spike is an old hoof at friendship lessons. I've dictated enough letters on the subject to him. He took my checklist, like he'd done this a hundred times before, and off he went to find Sunburst's living quarters with Starlight Glimmer in tow. If ever I wanted a teacher's assistant, I see now that I already have one. It's Spike.
So the six of us followed a dazed Shining Armor to the castle and the nursery. He told us before we entered the nursery that the foal might surprise us. I figured it was the fatigue talking again.
Princess Luna, Princess Celestia and of course, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza were there. Cadence looked about as tired as my brother, and Celestia and Luna looked lost in thought. We didn't really notice that at first, we were intent on seeing the foal! And yes, she is surprising.
First off, she's huge. With a huge horn. And really huge wings. She's an alicorn. Born of a unicorn and an ascended pegasus. It doesn't make sense, and yet, there she is. Like Pinkie Sense.
Princess Celestia and Princess Luna didn't have any explanations, and we didn't really take time to debate it, because right then, the alicorn foal let fly a magic blast that blew a hole through five floors of the castle above her. OK, learn something new everyday. An alicorn foal is an order of magnitude more powerful than a regular unicorn foal. She is also a really strong flyer.
It turned out that Shining Armor wasn't going to get to rest quite yet after all. He still hadn't chosen an honor guard, or a crystal shard, or named a crystaller (which was going to be me). So while Pinkie and I foalsat my niece, Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash and Rarity helped Shining Armor with the rest.
That all went according to plan. We left the nursery and arrived at ground level to find everypony else waiting for us next to the spinning Crystal Heart. The ceremony was just about ready to begin! I separated my niece from Pinkie and gently deposited her into Cadence's grasp. My niece really likes Pinkie, and this did not please her. She let out a giant, magnified wail that resonated with the Crystal Heart. It shattered and rained to the floor in hundreds of pieces. Then all Tartarus broke loose.
The primary function of the Crystal Heart is to create a warm, green oasis in what would otherwise be just another permanently frozen plain of snow and ice. With it smashed to smithereens, the wild clouds of the Frozen North were moving in and the temperature was dropping like a stone. Now we had an emergency. We had to restore the Crystal Heart and we had to do that fast.
Princess Celestia and Princess Luna did not know of a spell that would restore such a powerful magical artifact, so they flew off to battle the storm to give us time to come up with something. Princess Cadence had found where Sombra had hidden the castle library, so we started looking for a solution there. Unfortunately, the Crystal Empire castle library has not seen a librarian in a very long time. Maybe not ever. It took a lot of searching to find something to give us a clue on how to fix a broken Crystal Heart. Meanwhile, my niece, while very cute and cheerful, was not helping. At all. We found a book on relics that looked promising. In it was a spell of Relic Reconstitution. I read through it once. It looked good! Then my niece burned a hole the size of a dessert plate through it. Ugh.
While I wrote down the spell from memory, Starlight Glimmer went to get Sunburst so he could help us fix the Crystal Heart. Starlight said her attempt at rekindling her old friendship with him had failed. I didn't have time to go over that with her to see what she had learned about friendship in the attempt, but she had said that he was a powerful wizard. Coming from Starlight Glimmer, that's impressive. It sounded like help we could use.
The storm outside was getting worse and worse. Princess Luna and Princess Celestia were losing the battle with the wild clouds. Regardless, the crystal ponies were camped outside waiting for the crystalling! Shining Armor went out to order them to flee for the train station, and Cadence and I tried to fix the Crystal Heart with the spell of Relic Reconstitution. That failed. Then Starlight Glimmer returned with Sunburst. That pony knows his magic!
He knew that the crystalling, a ceremony that uses the combined magic of the crystal ponies to strengthen the Crystal Heart, would be key to fixing it, along with Somnambula's Weather Abjuration, a spell that is in tune with the Heart's primary function. Fortunately, he'd crossed paths with the crystal ponies that had been on their way to the train station and he'd turned them back. The crystalling was on!
I reassembled the shards using the Relic Reconstitution spell, Princess Luna and Princess Celestia gave me a boost so I could hold it together long enough, and Starlight cast Somnambula's Weather Abjuration. Shining Armor gave Sunburst the role of crystaller, and once the crystal ponies had powered the crystalling shard, Sunburst plunged it into the fractured Heart, healing it! Completely restored, the Crystal Heart went back to spinning in its berth, dispersing the wild clouds and projecting the joy of the crystal ponies all across Equestria.
It was a full day.
Sunburst also had a gift for Cadence and Shining Armor: a spell called Fledgling's Forbearance for my niece. No more bolts of energy, teleportation or wild flights until she's old enough to do all that in moderation! I wish I'd known that spell. Well, my niece does have a name. After the fun she put us through on her crystalling day, her parents have decided to name her Flurry Heart. It will be an easy name to remember.
We didn't stay overnight (obviously), but my parents probably did. We met them at the train station. They'd missed the crystalling because of the storm. At least they won't be dodging bolts of alicorn magic while they're there. Maybe they'll convince Shining Armor to get a nanny or three.
Now that I've had some time to wonder why Flurry Heart is an alicorn, I have a suspicion. Princess Cadence is a focal point of the Crystal Empire. She was pregnant with Flurry Heart when we caused that blinding flash. We may have caused Flurry Heart to ascend in utero!
We are still the Elements of Harmony, even if we no longer draw on the Tree's relics. And when we come together in Friendship, in the presence of powerful magic, we channel it and we wield it. The outcome is not always what we thought it would be.
All six of us, plus Spike and Starlight Glimmer, boarded the train to the Crystal Empire this morning. Although he's not part of the ceremony, Spike's a national hero in the Crystal Empire. A royal crystalling is an important event, so of course he went.
We were going for the crystalling and to see the foal, and Starlight Glimmer went with us because I found out that it's Starlight Glimmer's Sunburst who had moved to the Crystal Empire. Since he had been her best friend when she was a foal, I calculated that rekindling that friendship should be a breeze. It's not like Starlight Glimmer had broken his heart or anything.
When we arrived at the station in the Crystal Empire, my brother was waiting for us. He was also asleep on his hooves. Now I had thought that I could go with Starlight Glimmer and coach her through her first lesson, and then catch up with the others in time for the crystalling. I had a checklist of catalysts and approaches at the ready. I was prepared. What I wasn't prepared for was a brother who was half delirious from lack of sleep. Don't they have help at the castle? Nannies? Foal sitters? So, change of plan. We'd all help with the foal and give my brother and Cadence a break. I wouldn't coach Starlight Glimmer through her first real lesson. But then Spike saved the day.
Spike is an old hoof at friendship lessons. I've dictated enough letters on the subject to him. He took my checklist, like he'd done this a hundred times before, and off he went to find Sunburst's living quarters with Starlight Glimmer in tow. If ever I wanted a teacher's assistant, I see now that I already have one. It's Spike.
So the six of us followed a dazed Shining Armor to the castle and the nursery. He told us before we entered the nursery that the foal might surprise us. I figured it was the fatigue talking again.
Princess Luna, Princess Celestia and of course, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza were there. Cadence looked about as tired as my brother, and Celestia and Luna looked lost in thought. We didn't really notice that at first, we were intent on seeing the foal! And yes, she is surprising.
First off, she's huge. With a huge horn. And really huge wings. She's an alicorn. Born of a unicorn and an ascended pegasus. It doesn't make sense, and yet, there she is. Like Pinkie Sense.
Princess Celestia and Princess Luna didn't have any explanations, and we didn't really take time to debate it, because right then, the alicorn foal let fly a magic blast that blew a hole through five floors of the castle above her. OK, learn something new everyday. An alicorn foal is an order of magnitude more powerful than a regular unicorn foal. She is also a really strong flyer.
It turned out that Shining Armor wasn't going to get to rest quite yet after all. He still hadn't chosen an honor guard, or a crystal shard, or named a crystaller (which was going to be me). So while Pinkie and I foalsat my niece, Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash and Rarity helped Shining Armor with the rest.
That all went according to plan. We left the nursery and arrived at ground level to find everypony else waiting for us next to the spinning Crystal Heart. The ceremony was just about ready to begin! I separated my niece from Pinkie and gently deposited her into Cadence's grasp. My niece really likes Pinkie, and this did not please her. She let out a giant, magnified wail that resonated with the Crystal Heart. It shattered and rained to the floor in hundreds of pieces. Then all Tartarus broke loose.
The primary function of the Crystal Heart is to create a warm, green oasis in what would otherwise be just another permanently frozen plain of snow and ice. With it smashed to smithereens, the wild clouds of the Frozen North were moving in and the temperature was dropping like a stone. Now we had an emergency. We had to restore the Crystal Heart and we had to do that fast.
Princess Celestia and Princess Luna did not know of a spell that would restore such a powerful magical artifact, so they flew off to battle the storm to give us time to come up with something. Princess Cadence had found where Sombra had hidden the castle library, so we started looking for a solution there. Unfortunately, the Crystal Empire castle library has not seen a librarian in a very long time. Maybe not ever. It took a lot of searching to find something to give us a clue on how to fix a broken Crystal Heart. Meanwhile, my niece, while very cute and cheerful, was not helping. At all. We found a book on relics that looked promising. In it was a spell of Relic Reconstitution. I read through it once. It looked good! Then my niece burned a hole the size of a dessert plate through it. Ugh.
While I wrote down the spell from memory, Starlight Glimmer went to get Sunburst so he could help us fix the Crystal Heart. Starlight said her attempt at rekindling her old friendship with him had failed. I didn't have time to go over that with her to see what she had learned about friendship in the attempt, but she had said that he was a powerful wizard. Coming from Starlight Glimmer, that's impressive. It sounded like help we could use.
The storm outside was getting worse and worse. Princess Luna and Princess Celestia were losing the battle with the wild clouds. Regardless, the crystal ponies were camped outside waiting for the crystalling! Shining Armor went out to order them to flee for the train station, and Cadence and I tried to fix the Crystal Heart with the spell of Relic Reconstitution. That failed. Then Starlight Glimmer returned with Sunburst. That pony knows his magic!
He knew that the crystalling, a ceremony that uses the combined magic of the crystal ponies to strengthen the Crystal Heart, would be key to fixing it, along with Somnambula's Weather Abjuration, a spell that is in tune with the Heart's primary function. Fortunately, he'd crossed paths with the crystal ponies that had been on their way to the train station and he'd turned them back. The crystalling was on!
I reassembled the shards using the Relic Reconstitution spell, Princess Luna and Princess Celestia gave me a boost so I could hold it together long enough, and Starlight cast Somnambula's Weather Abjuration. Shining Armor gave Sunburst the role of crystaller, and once the crystal ponies had powered the crystalling shard, Sunburst plunged it into the fractured Heart, healing it! Completely restored, the Crystal Heart went back to spinning in its berth, dispersing the wild clouds and projecting the joy of the crystal ponies all across Equestria.
It was a full day.
Sunburst also had a gift for Cadence and Shining Armor: a spell called Fledgling's Forbearance for my niece. No more bolts of energy, teleportation or wild flights until she's old enough to do all that in moderation! I wish I'd known that spell. Well, my niece does have a name. After the fun she put us through on her crystalling day, her parents have decided to name her Flurry Heart. It will be an easy name to remember.
We didn't stay overnight (obviously), but my parents probably did. We met them at the train station. They'd missed the crystalling because of the storm. At least they won't be dodging bolts of alicorn magic while they're there. Maybe they'll convince Shining Armor to get a nanny or three.
Now that I've had some time to wonder why Flurry Heart is an alicorn, I have a suspicion. Princess Cadence is a focal point of the Crystal Empire. She was pregnant with Flurry Heart when we caused that blinding flash. We may have caused Flurry Heart to ascend in utero!
We are still the Elements of Harmony, even if we no longer draw on the Tree's relics. And when we come together in Friendship, in the presence of powerful magic, we channel it and we wield it. The outcome is not always what we thought it would be.
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Date: 2016-04-05 02:56 am (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2016-04-06 01:08 am (UTC)