The Grey of Winter

Mason awoke the morning after Cadance's outburst in her room with a yawn, when the reality of his current situation had caught up to him.Immediately opening his eyes confirmed that Mason was not out in the snow, and was a guest inside a crystal castle run by ponies. There were no humans. There were only ponies. Mason was stunned that he had not come to this conclusion earlier. He was the only human to ever exist on this planet, and quite possibly in this dimension!

Mason was hit by a barrage of thoughts and feelings; fear, anger, loneliness, a longing for home, he wanted to be with his younger brothers and sisters, and his mom and dad. And he wanted to see Gene again, his best friend. But they were all dead. The Breach took them from him. The Breach took everything from him. Mason wanted nothing more than to get revenge on the sick fuck that did this to him. Mason wanted to cut the bastard open alive, and make him watch as his organs were removed one by one slowly and painfully.

Mason took a deep breath. It was a trick Gene had taught him to help him calm down whenever he felt too angry or overwhelmed. It was out of his control, it was nobody's fault he was here. Nobody's fault that he was all alone, all he could do now is get over it and keep on marching. Mason's thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door. He got up to open it revealing the same guard pony from yesterday.

"Good morning sir, Princess Cadance has requested that I bring you to the magic and medicine research wing of the castle for a medical examination. She said to tell you that she was worried that three years in the wastes probably did more harm than good." He said. Mason agreed and let Flash take him to wherever it is he was expected. It wasn't a long walk to the research wing, but it was a quiet  Mason's thoughts were on how he could help out more. security seemed lax around the castle so Mason considered speaking with the guard captain. His thoughts were once more cut short by the guard. "We have arrived."

Taking a look around, Mason saw how large the place was, with ponies in white nurse and doctor cloaks running about, screaming about organs and magic. It was a rather odd sight for Mason, but he didn't question it for the sake of his mind. After a small waiting time, a mare with a lush golden colored mane came up to him and Flash. "Good morning sir. Princess Cadance had already told me the specifics to your examination" She said, adjusting her  glasses. "Although, I have never seen anything like you. Do tell, before we proceed, just what are you?". Mason stared at the mare for a while before sighing, telling himself that it was probably fine.

"I'm a human. And as what you can see, I'm not from this place" Mason told her, causing the mare to giggle.

"Verily. In any case, you may call me Golden Pulse and I shall be doing a rough examination first before we check on anything that may have caused prolonged injuries. Hopefully you don't. Otherwise I will be seeing you more often" The mare, now known as Pulse, jokingly said with a smile, to which Mason smiled back.

Flash then coughed, catching the attention of both Mason and Pulse. "Well, since the both of you are now acquainted, I shall be taking my leave sir" Flash said, saluting Mason before leaving the room.

Mason then turned back and faced the mare. "Well then, off we go I guess" he said, ushering a hand to continue.

Princess Cadance was sitting in her throne room, being a tiny bit distraught as to what to do. Just a few hours before Mason had woken up, she had brought her finest doctor to check on any injuries that may have been sustained through Mason's 3 years in the harsh waste. Shivering slightly, she wondered how it felt like, all alone in that desolate place. Yet she also wondered, just how he just pops up in her life when tragedy took place in the form of her husbands death.

She still cries a little bit in her sleep because of that.

And the nightmares...Oh the painful nightmares...

However, her thoughts were soon interrupted by a powerful force that resonated from the Crystal Heart. This shocked her a little bit, but more so made her confused as to why it did that. And so, with her curiosity getting the better of her, she went up to the Crystal Heart, her horn flaring up as she used a spell to check for anything odd. Then, her eyes went wide open as her pupils shrank when she suddenly found something that may have caused the force.

She felt his resonance. Mason's resonance. In the Crystal Heart.

And so, she dropped down onto her knees, shock evident on her face. What did it mean? Why was his resonance there? Cadance shook her head, trying to come up with a comprehensible answer. Her head felt painful all of a sudden as she cringed a little when she felt the pain flair up for a moment. But then, her mind asked her something. 'Is Mason somehow connected to Crystal Heart..?, she wondered, causing herself to stop for a moment and give it some thought.

It may herald some form of truth, due to the Heart having been acting rather strange for quite some time before. 'I have to find out! Cadance exclaimed, standing up and walking out the door.

...

...Only for her to bump into Mason as soon as she stepped out, causing the both of them to recoil a bit.

"O-Oh! M-Mason! How did your examination go?" Cadance asked, regaining her posture as she gave him a smile.

"It was fine. Apparently I didn't really have any dangerous injuries, so that's always a good sign" Mason said, causing the pink alicorn to giggle.

After that, a lengthy silence soon followed, with nothing but the two looking at each other. Shaking her head, Cadance turned her head to the side to try and hide the blush that had formed. "S-So...Ummm...W-Why are you h-here?" Cadance stammered a little, causing Mason to laugh.

"Well...I just wanted to check up on you. Seeing as I have no idea where I am, I went and found Flash and asked him where you may be" Mason said, causing Cadance to let out a small "Oh"

Silence soon entered as the two beings stared at each other for a moment. Cadance sighed. 'Well...Here goes nothing' Cadance thought to herself as she composed herself once more. "Well... Could you do me a favor and follow me?" she asked, causing the human to look at in suspicion. This caused Cadance to give him puppy dog eyes, making Mason grit his teeth. With a sigh of defeat, he ushered the alicorn to continue, causing Cadance to giggle like a schoolfilly.

And with that, the two went inside the throne room, Mason then looked around, whistling as he saw how beautiful the place was. However, there was one major thing that caught his attention. And that was in the form of a heart, that seemed to be made of crystal, in the middle of the room. It was a very odd to see such a masterful work of art. "Wow...What is that thing?" Mason asked, pointing a finger towards the heart shaped crystal.

"That, Mason, is called the Crystal Heart. It was used to defend my kingdom a long time ago from a tyrant known as King Sombra. However, we're not here to discuss on that topic" Cadance's mood shifted to one of seriousness. "We are here because I found your magical resonance inside it. And with that, even if it sounds kinda crazy, it may very well be linked to you in some way"

Mason blinked, processing the information in his head"...Linked...to me?" Mason asked, utter confused.

"It may sound crazy, I know. But I can't really think of anything else" Cadance says with her head hung low.

However, by then, Mason was not listening anymore and his focus was pin pointed onto the Crystal Heart. With him not knowing, he then began to walk closer and closer, taking in every detail. He couldn't help but feel drawn to it. He wanted to touch it. For curiosity sake.

Then, as soon as he raised his hand to touch it, he could hear Cadance cry out for him to not do so. But try as she might, Cadance couldn't stop him. As soon as a his finger touched the heart, it began to glow ever so softly, with the brightness intensifying every passing moment. Soon, a large burst of magic pulsated through the Crystal Heart, pulsating onwards throughout the kingdom. Many crystal ponies saw the huge magic pulse, but they couldn't do much due to the magic knocking everypony around its large radius, including Cadance.

Once everything stopped, Mason staggered for a moment before dropping to his knees and onto falling onto the floor as darkness overwhelmed him.