Berryshine's Crystal Empire Adventure

Chapters

A Long Overdue Welcome
The Ambiguous Death of Opal Bloom
Sombra's Final Trick
Awkward Introductions and Goodbyes
The Wrong Train

A Long Overdue Welcome

Berryshine felt woefully out of place as Shining Armour and Cadence approached the central tower. Up close, the thing looked like a narrow pyramid with its skirt up, if pyramids could be said to have skirts. The supports of the thing all lined up with a main road, and the roof was curved upwards.

It would have looked a lot nicer if everything wasn't so black and brown everywhere.

The pair got to the throne room without fanfare, and Berry lagged behind, though not enough to accidentally trip out of Shining's protective barrier. She wasn't supposed to be there in the first place, but she'd be damned if she needed saving on this trip.

"Well, we're here," Shining said, gesturing to the throne.

"Right. I take it you two want some privacy?"

"No," Cadence replied. "This works better with an audience."

Berryshine wasn't sure what to make of that, but she didn't have time to ask. Princess Cadence just sat down on the throne, closed her eyes, then opened what looked like two headlights on her head. Berry averted her eyes, and silently wished she'd brought sunglasses. She heard the magic explode out of the alicorn's body, washing over the crystals and Berry herself.

Berry was lost in a sea of love.

It was the first taste of a lemon slice with chocolate.

It was the pat on the back after a hard day's work and the smile of a pony she respected.

It was praise for a job well done, and the satisfaction that came with it.

It was pure happiness poured out like shampoo and gently rubbed over every square inch of her coat by hands that had digits capable of kneading and stroking every fibre of her being. It was a switch had been flicked to make everything right with the world.

And then it was gone, and Berryshine was out of place again. She looked to Shining Armour and afforded herself a tiny smirk. No wonder he'd married that one.

Cadence rubbed her throbbing horn once it was done. She groaned from the exertion. "Did it work?"

Berry trotted towards a balcony and looked out. Gone was the black and brown of the corrupted Empire, gone was that waxy shine that made everything look greasy. Gone were those jagged black crystals that were an offence to good taste as well as health and safety.

In their place, there was harmony, and beauty. Vibrant blues and pinks littered the landscape, the crystal houses had windows that were actually big enough to be called windows instead of peepholes, and the main roads, or leylines or power lines, whatever they were supposed to be, looked like they were made of the finest glass.

Even the sky had been purified: where it had existed in a pocket of black and brown before, cut off from the snowfall outside, now it was a clear blue, the same as it would be after a diligent cloudbusting from a competent Weather Patrol.

This must have been one heck of a tourist site in its heyday, Berry felt.

"Looks like," she said.

"Good. That takes care of one problem."

"Right. The Empire's clear, and now we just put up a barrier." Shining Armour shot something red out of his horn and up into the air, where it spread out like strawberry jam to reach all the way to the edges of the city.

Shining kept his eyes closed while he cast the barrier. Standing next to the Prince, Berry couldn't help but wonder.

"Thank you, Shiny," Cadence said.

"That ought to keep that thing out of the Empire until reinforcements arrive."

"Reinforcements?"

"Twily-err, ahem, Twilight Sparkle and the Elements of Harmony," Shining said.

"Right, the heroes of Equestria. Of course." Berry looked up at the barrier.

"Is something wrong?" Cadence asked, still on her throne.

Berry nodded up at the barrier. "How long is that thing going to stay up?"

"As long as it needs to," the stallion replied.

"And it won't fall down if you need to, I don't know, sleep?"

"Not this kind of shield, no. This one, you just charge up and it stays up. I can't even take it down on my own. It's perfectly safe."

"Well, that's a relief." Berry chuckled nervously.

"I'd better go secure the perimeter," Shining said. "I'll be back in a few hours."

Berryshine sighed and leaned over the balcony railing. "Bye."

She heard the tell-tale clopping of hooves on crystal approaching her. Canterlot walk, very slow and deliberate, usually because the ponies doing it had their noses up so they couldn't see where they were going.

"You know, you're welcome to explore the place, if you want."

"I don't think that's such a good idea. I wouldn't want to get in the way or mess things up."

"You wouldn't, really. If anything, we could use someone to scout around. The Crystal ponies will be wondering what's happened."

"Now that you mention it, where are they? Shouldn't they be celebrating, now that their Empire is back to normal?"

Cadence sighed. "No. It's not back to normal, not yet. We only removed the evil, we haven't actually put the good back in yet."

"I see." Berry's stomach growled. She could go for a treat right now. One of those famous reindeer goat cheese pizzas would hit just the right spot. Maybe topped with a bit of pineapple, and served by one of those graceful young bucks with cute little stubby antlers...

She really needed that holiday right about now.

Cadence chuckled. "Go on, go eat. The Empire's exactly like it was a thousand years ago, so the food hasn't actually spoiled yet. And you are on a holiday, aren't you?"

To that, Berry perked up. "Yes, I suppose I am, technically. But this isn't exactly Santa Fell."

"No, but the Crystal ponies used to be famous for how well they treated guests. And you are pretty close to reindeer lands, some of the food should be the same."

"Probably."

"Then what's the problem, really?"

The answer to that was easy, of course: Berryshine had had enough of ponies. Everywhere she went, there were always other ponies, and more distressingly, there were always ponies who knew her. The Elements of Harmony had a way of showing up right when she was visiting relatives, Lyra and Bon Bon kept turning up at the strangest places, and Derpy? Derpy had to have a dimensional warp device for all the places she managed to pop up in.

Just once, Berry wanted to go someplace new, get in touch with a different culture, different food. Things that didn't remind her of work, or all the times she'd snapped at someone. Things that were simply not pony. And the one time she actually decided to take time for herself, the one time she was being spontaneous and headed to the lands of those big, burly, buff reindeer bucks with their foreign wit and charm and antlers, she ended up stranded in yet another pony city, tagging along with ponies more important than her, and having to anticipate the arrival of, yet again, the Elements of Harmony.

It was like every place Berryshine could go to was no more than Ponyville with different background buildings, the same background ponies and, at best, different background hats.

All she wanted was one visit to someplace that wasn't occupied by her neighbours. And whichever sick, twisted individual (or writing staff, which would explain a lot) was writing the story of her life just didn't feel like giving that to her.

Of course, none of this was a sentiment fit for sharing with a princess. That would have been uncouth. "I don't know. Maybe I'm just being silly. You've got everything under control here, right?"

"Right. And Twilight and her friends will be here soon, they'll make sure it's fixed for good."

Berry nodded. "What about money, though? Think they'll accept Equestrian bits?"

"Gosh, I hadn't thought of that. I guess they'd better, if they want to get their economy back on track."

"And the language? Do Crystal ponies know any words besides 'We submit'? I mean, a thousand years..."

Again, Cadence chuckled. "You know, the funny thing about language is: it only changes when ponies decide to change it. And, ah, Celestia was there when the Empire disappeared. I don't think she's let the language change all that much."

Berry shivered.

"What's the matter? There's nothing to be scared of, not now."

"I don't know. I feel like I've walked into somepony else's story. Your story, even. There's a gigantic shadow of doom right outside, I've accidentally butted in with a royal quest, and I'm supposed to act like I'm on a holiday? This whole thing is just crazy, and I'm from Ponyville, I know crazy."

"Oh. So it's just the awkwardness, huh? Okay, I can fix that."

"Huh?"

"Miss Berryshine, I hereby task you with a royal quest on my behalf: go out and find some Crystal ponies, and act like any visitor to their Empire would."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously. Their power comes from their sense of identity and harmony. If they can act normal, then that helps restore their power."

Berry rolled her eyes. "That's just silly. You mean the way they treat tourists has some effect on their magic?"

"From what I heard, yes. The spirit of love and unity is what gives them their power, and that includes their sense of identity, which includes how they treat visitors and tourists. If they get back to their old selves, that will help them."

Berry's mean streak popped up again. Oh, she could say something so terribly clever, but it wouldn't help. Besides, she was hungry, and being hungry had a way of souring her mood. Better to let it go, sit back, and relax. "Okay, then, I'll... I'll go see what Crystal Empire cuisine is like. What do I get you?"

"Pardon?"

"Well, Shining Armour's off patrolling, but he's probably going to pick up a snack someplace. You must be hungry too, right?"

Cadence tapped her horn. "Alicorn metabolism. I can go for weeks without food. And have, actually."

It was only then Berry remembered the story of Cadence being kidnapped and held captive in the caves beneath Canterlot. She couldn't imagine how much of an ordeal that must have been for the princess. "You're absolutely sure? I could run back and forth, if you want, I can get you anything you need, just name it. Anything to help."

Cadence pondered it for a moment. "Umm, actually, there is one thing: chocolate oil."

Berry felt her left eyebrow go up even as she asked it. "Chocolate oil?"

"Chocolate oil. It's an ancient Crystal Empire speciality, the stuff of legends. If you could come back with some of that, I'd be very much obliged."

Chocolate oil. Of course. Berry wondered if Princess Cadence realised that Berryshine had seen The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Probably not, or the hint wouldn't have been so subtle. Still, she took it. Berry forced out a smile and nodded. "Chocolate oil it is. Won't be a problem, Princess." She had trotted out of earshot before Cadence could correct her.

Cadence kept up her smile until Berryshine was out of earshot. Then she let out a guilty sigh. Berry was gone. And she wouldn't be back for a good long time thanks to the little white lie. Just as well, really. The alicorn rubbed her neck and strode to the throne, the central hub of magic power in the Empire. She could feel it throbbing beneath her, the power of her love coursing through the streets and homes. If she focused, she could almost feel the pitter patter of hooves on the ground.

So this was what it felt like to sit on a throne connected to a city. This is what Aunt Celestia felt every time she sat on her throne, or maybe worse. After all, Celestia's throne only had one big gem underneath, and that was connected by resonance to the Canterlot crystal caves. Cadence's throne was connected directly to crystals, and said crystals were all over the Empire.

She tried to move her arms, but found them stuck. A force of will had to break them loose from the seat.

Keep it together, Cadence, you can do this. Shiny's got his barrier up, he'll keep Sombra out. Shiny can keep the Empire safe. Your job's easier than his.

She knew that was a lie, though: Shining Armour's barrier was a mere screen, a flimsy surface. Cadence's magic was a volume: the thing filling the barrier and keeping the realm in one piece. Shining only had to charge his magic every once in a while. Cadence had to be constantly leaking hers.

Such was the burden of a Princess of Equestria: to be victorious and glorious under the eye of all, and to suffer alone.

Berryshine had done a fair bit of travelling in her day, both for her job and her pleasure, so it wasn't that hard for her to figure out where exactly she could find a restaurant, or a café. The centre of the city was, as she'd correctly guessed for the lay-out, more of a fairground than a residential area, so that was out. Further along, though, she found the houses closer to the circular roads to have more of a regular town feeling.

The Crystal Empire really was designed sort of like a snowflake shape, with different circles split by roads running out of the central tower. She idly wondered if that was some sort of cultural thing, and if perhaps reindeer had adopted that feature in their own architecture. She'd have to check that once she got to Santa Fell.

Goodness, the reindeer. Wouldn't they be in for a surprise if they decided to fly through the desolate plains of the tundra, only to be hit with the warmth of a summer day, before being slammed right back into the cold of winter.

Then again, given how infamous reindeer were for their penchant for saunas and ice baths, they'd probably enjoy the experience. Would Crystal ponies have saunas and ice baths too, then?

Berry pondered as she made her way through the big ring road, looking around. A lot of the buildings looked the same, but that wasn't much of a surprise. What was a surprise was how immaculate everything looked. For a place that had been gone and left unattended for a millennium, it looked to be in a fine state, still. Must have been some timey-wimey stuff, as Time Turner would put it.

Berry had gone full circle without meeting any more Crystal ponies. She decided to take matters into her own hooves and sat down at a table right outside what she presumed was a sandwich bar. It wasn't long before a grey mare with a purple mane and tail showed up. Something was off about this one, though. It wasn't just the half-lidded eyes and the deflated hair, or the lack of shine to her fur where even a regular pony should have it, but Berry couldn't quite put her hooftip on what it was.

"Can I help you?" the mare asked in a dull monotone.

"Yes, do you have any daisy sandwiches?"

"I don't know."

"Umm, what about salads?"

"Oh, I'm not sure."

Berry looked at the mare and finally realised what it was: the specular was off. She'd heard one of the Ponyville boys -- one of the gamers -- use that word once, with regards to some graphical thing or another. The white spots in the eyes, caused by reflection of the light, were not right: rather than a natural round shape, the light was reflected in a square shape. How was that even possible? Had they been like that before they were purified? Had they been like that before they were corrupted? "Do you, umm, know anything? Do you remember, I mean?"

The mare shook her head. "There was a dark cloud. King Sombra, he-" The mare clutched her head and hissed in agony. Berry helped her up before the poor Crystal pony doubled over in pain.

"Okay, okay, that's fine. Don't worry about that right now."

The mare winced and looked Berry in the eyes. "Do you know what happened? Why is the light back? Who are you?"

"Umm, my name is Berryshine, I'm here with Princess Cadence and Shining Armour, we're from Equestria, we're here to help."

"Oh," she said in her monotone. "That's nice. Are you a princess, too?"

"Me? No, no, just a regular Earth pony."

"Are you a hero, then? A chosen one of... Equestria, was it? That's a silly name."

Berry chuckled. "It grows on you after a while. No, I'm not a hero of Equestria, or a chosen one or anything, but the real heroes should be here soon enough. I just got on the wrong train. But if you need anything, I'm more than happy to help."

The mare sighed . "Oh. Umm, I don't suppose you could tell me what happened to the light?"

"That's Princess Cadence. She's an alicorn; she cast a spell to fill the realm with love again, or something."

"That's nice of her. Um, did we, you know..."

Berry sighed. "You might want to sit down for this."

The mare's expression didn't shift, but it was obvious she knew something bad had happened. She slowly sat down on the chair in front of Berry.

"Umm, I only got a couple of details, but from what I heard, your Empire disappeared, and then reappeared."

"Oh. That explains why it feels so weird, I suppose. But Sombra, and those two who fought him, it feels like it was just yesterday. How long were we gone?"

"A thousand years."

Again, nothing shifted in the mare's expression. "Oh. What about the deer?"

"What deer?"

"I remember deer, or reindeer. What's happened to them?"

Berryshine shrugged. "Err, they're doing fine, I suppose. Couple of wars while you were gone, couple of monsters, the usual world-ending stuff that doesn't actually end the world."

"And the colonies? Oh no, the Epona ponies were arguing again when we were attacked, I remember that. They were going to start killing each other. Please, they didn't get into another civil war, did they?"

"Err, eheh, no, no, that worked out okay, too. I'm one of those, you see. An Epona pony, I mean. We're fine, too, really, we get along with each other much better now. In fact, I think we've kind of, sort of... taken over the continent while you were gone, actually. Sorry about that."

The mare's expression stayed fixed in that dull, emotionless expression. "That's fine. I don't think we were going to use it all, anyway. There were a lot of bad things out there, I'm sure your ancestors deserved what they got for whatever cleaning up they did."

Berry's stomach grumbled.

"Oh, I'm sorry, you're hungry, right?"

"A little. I hope modern currency is okay?"

"Oh, don't worry about that. If you're here to help, the least I can do is offer a meal." The mare finally cracked a smile as she went inside. "Umm..."

Berry's ear perked. The mare looked back, eyes full of confusion. "This might sound strange, but I can't quite remember what we eat here. I'm not even sure if I work here."

"Oh, right. Cadence's magic just reset you, huh?"

"Not to worry, I can think of something."

Berry waited, lost in thought. A whole empire, gone for a thousand years, and then struck with amnesia. The implications were mind-boggling. These ponies didn't know what electricity was. Or maybe they did, and their disappearing had set back the rest of Equestria by a couple millennia. Did these ponies have running water? Did they have refrigeration, ovens?

These ponies pre-dated the Middle Ages. Did they even know what a modern toilet looked like?

"Here we go," Berry's host came back with a tray, containing what looked like two doughnuts and a glass of orange juice.

"What do you call this?" Berry picked up a doughnut. It didn't feel quite as greasy as one, though, more like bread.

"It's a bagel," the mare replied.

"Huh." Berry inspected the strange foodstuff, then looked around at the buildings. "That's kind of interesting. Everything around here is crystally and pointy, but your bread is still smooth and round."

"Yes, it's tradition: the circle represents perfect unity and infinity. That's why our city has so many curved and semi-circular shapes in it, too."

Berryshine wasn't prepared for the flash of light that followed. For a second, she feared her host had exploded. "Are you okay?"

The Crystal pony panted and looked at herself. Same dull coat, same deflated mane, but a more expressive face, oddly enough. Right now it was expressing a jaw that tried very hard not to drop. "Yes, I feel quite splendid, thank you. How did I know that, though?"

"Uh, Princess Cadence said your sense of identity gave you your magic. Maybe you flashed because you started remembering?"

"Must be. Don't let me keep you from your meal, though. I'll get you a napkin."

"Thank you. Umm, actually, if you think you can remember, I'm curious about something."

"What is it?"

Berry took a moment to find the right words. "Don't take this the wrong way, but from where I'm sitting, you're a pretty ancient civilisation. Do you have, you know, modern stuff, too?"

"Gosh, that all depends. What's modern nowadays?"

"Hot running water, electric ovens, that sort of thing."

"Oh, that. We're fairly advanced, or we were, back in the day. See, this far up North we have very long days half of the year, so we set up some crystals to channel the sun's warmth. We have solar mills to drive anything that needs moving, and our water mains can run hot and cold water. We get most of our power from the Sun and the permafrost's magic helps keep our food cool, as well as store whatever power we need homeopathically."

Again, the Crystal pony exploded into light. Berry blinked until she could see anything but white. The onset of blue spots was a good start.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to explode like that. I'm not sure what's going on."

Berry tried to rub the spots in her eyes away. "That's perfectly fine, really. I get this all the time in my hometown."

"You must live in a very interesting town, then."

"Sure, if that's what you want to call it." Berry blinked again and finally got the blindness to recede.

"I think I understand. Let me go get you that napkin."

"That'd be lovely." With that, Berry took a bite of this so-called Crystal 'bagel'.

It was heavenly. Soft, doughy texture, crisp salad and sweet red onions, along with the most delightful creamy cheese, definitely not from cows, possibly from goats or sheep. She hummed as she chewed on the treat.

"Is it good?"

Berry swallowed her bite. Not a reindeer goat cheese pizza, but it hit the spot. "Very. You're a real lifesaver, Miss..."

"Umm, I'm not sure about my name, come to think of it. I think it might be Onyx?"

Berry shrugged. "I'll go with that, then. Pleased to meet you, Onyx." She extended a hoof in greeting. "Welcome back to the world."

Onyx sat down and cracked another careful smile as she shook that hoof. "Thank you, Berryshine. It's good to be back. I think. Pretty sure being gone was bad."

"Yeah, but now you've got a lot to catch up with too, huh? A lot has happened in a thousand years. But hey, at least the kids can catch up in school now, right?"

"The kids?"

"Children," Berry said, taking another bite. "Little ones, foals. Don't Crystal ponies have foals?"

"I-I think we do. Yes, we had little ones, of course we did. What did Sombra do with them, though?" Onyx gritted her teeth as another pang of migraine hit her.

"Whoa, okay, let's not get ahead of ourselves here. I'm sure wherever they are, they're fine."

"Someone needs to go looking for them. If they can't remember, either..." Onyx's coat took on a duller grey hue as she rubbed her temples. It still hurt.

"Hey," Berry said. "It's fine, everything's going to be okay, just one step at a time. I'll go looking for any children, you just keep making these, and try to get your friends to remember."

Onyx looked at the street, where Crystal ponies were starting to come out and lumber about. "Do you really think that'll help?"

"It should. Like Cadence said, your magic is powered by your sense of identity and harmony. You started remembering because you did what you used to do. If you keep doing it, you might remember on your own, and help the others remember, too."

The Crystal pony nodded. "Think I will. But you, Berryshine, should eat up before the bagels cool off. You won't be much use to anyone with a grumbling stomach."

That, she did not need to be told twice.

Berryshine wandered around the city, belly full and spirits lifted, at least a little. True, she wasn't an Element of Harmony, or even remotely heroic in any particular way, but she was in a new place, it was a lovely and relaxing place to be in, the ponies there needed help, and she was able to help, so she would. Simple as that.

The question, though, was where to help. The buildings around were all smooth and shiny now, nothing that remotely resembled a prison, so there was no telling what sort of place the children would be kept in.

Think, Berry, think. If you make the grown-ups your slaves, what do you do with the children? You have to put them somewhere, and you obviously can't kill them if you want to keep them as some sort of leverage. The Crystal ponies are starting to wander around, but they're still sticking to familiar places. Onyx was still in her sandwich bar, in her shop, not checking out the streets, even though she couldn't tell if she worked at the shop or not. Some part of them obviously remembers how life was before Sombra, that's where they're likely to go. So where would kids go, then?

It took some doing, but she found a building with two griphon statues in front of it. On a hunch, she went in. She was greeted by row upon row of books and an elderly mare.

"Can I help you?" The mare asked.

"This is the library, right?" Berry asked.

"I assume so, yes, why?"

"Have you seen any children around?" Berry was about to bring up the question that this mare apparently had the voice of a baby dragon, but she decided against it. After all, her esteemed mayor had the same voice. Must have been a fluke, surely.

"Children?"

"Yes. Little ponies? Well, littler?"

"No, I don't think so. There are only books here."

"Okay, thank you. Umm, just a heads-up: there is probably going to be about half a dozen ponies like me coming in here in a little while, along with a baby dragon." Berry thought for a second. "One of them will look like she's gone crazy when she sees this many books in one place. They're the Elements of Harmony, they're heroes. They'll be here to help."

"Oh. Well, that's a relief," Much like Onyx, this one had a very monotonous voice, devoid of most any emotion.

"I think it might help if the place was open while they're here, too. If you need any food, Onyx is handing out bagels a few blocks away, I'm sure some of the neighbours will be willing to bring some, if you get hungry."

"What's a bagel?"

"It's tasty. Just try to keep the library open until the other ponies arrive, please?"

"What library?"

Berry's angelic patience was starting to feel the pressure again. "This one. The building you're in?"

"This is a library?"

Berry nearly slapped herself. "Yes. That is what you call a building with lots of books, you just said this was a library."

"I did? I'm sorry, I seem to be having trouble remembering. You say there are more ponies coming to help? Are they princesses like you?"

"No, no, and I'm not one, either. I'm just on a mission for Princess Cadence."

"And who is she?"

Berry was getting annoyed now. If there were children waiting to be freed, every second counted. "The Princess sitting in the tower right now. Listen, I'm looking for the children of the ponies here. The grown-ups are all walking around freely, but the kids aren't. Do you have any idea where Sombra might have put them?"

"Somb-agh!" And again, there was that magic-induced migraine.

Berry let off a sigh. "Sorry. I'll find them on my own. Thank you for your time."

"It's quite alright. Thank you, too. It's nice to know there are still ponies looking out for our little Empire."

Berry walked out to find a crowd waiting for her. They were all dull, all deflated manes and tails, all with half-lidded eyes. At least they were out and about, that was a good start.

"Excuse me, but what are you doing here?" a stallion asked.

"I was just checking to see if the librarian had seen any children. Have any of you?"

"Children?"

Somewhere in Berry's mind, a tea kettle was starting to whistle. "Younger Crystal ponies? Little ponies?"

About a dozen of the natives had shown up, and they all shook their heads.

"Okay, so that's the library down."

"Library?" A mare asked.

"Yes," Berry replied matter-of-factly. "This place is a library, a book repository, a book stuffy building-y thing. Does that ring any bells for you?"

Again, as one, they shook their heads.

"Okay, I'm going to keep looking, then. Thanks anyway."

With that, Berry set off in a gallop.

Kids wouldn't go to a library first, anyway, not if they couldn't remember. Gotta keep in mind these guys obviously remember the places, but not what happened at the places. So if they don't remember a library...

Berry raced through the doors of another large building, this one with a monumental stone in front of it and a statue of what she presumed was a former princess of the realm, if the horn and wings were to go by. It bore a striking resemblance to Cadence, actually, but it didn't say what she was called, besides 'The Crystal Princess'. Not that it mattered much, because the building was Berry's first concern.

A school. There has to be someone in here who remembers what happened to the kids.

She went from door to door, knocking before opening. Every time she entered, she was met with an empty classroom. She checked the desks, just on the off chance there was some sort of illusion hiding the kids. She checked the supply closets, nothing. The whole school building was deserted, even the teachers weren't there.

Right. So they're not at the school, either. You're thinking the wrong way, Berry. You need a drink.

On a whim, she got out a bottle of herbal mix and took a swig. It was sweet, and laced mostly with herbs known for their effect on mental acuity. Students loved it, because it calmed them down and gave a slight buzz without making them dizzy. The perfect drink after a night of studying, or before a night of making art.

The children aren't going to be at a library or a school. They'll be at a playground or something.

But if they'd go to a playground, why haven't I seen them out in the open yet? The adults are all free, there aren't any chains lying about, all the houses look like normal homes now instead of slave homes. If there are kids around here, they'd have to be free right now, too.

Unless whatever building they were held in turned into a prison when it was corrupted and stayed a prison when it was uncorrupted.

She took another swig of her drink. She regretted not sharing any with Onyx now, especially considering how well it would go with...

"Beheheheh!"

She stopped that train of thought when she heard the bleating.

Of course.

What kind of building would hold children both when it's corrupted and when it's not corrupted?

The kind that's already used to hold small animals.

She looked out to a grassy hill a few blocks away and saw the source of the bleating: little ewes grazing about, unherded and unattended.

Bingo.

Author's Note

Yup, reindeer goat cheese pizza is a movie reference. It's a goat cheese pizza, made by reindeer, not a pizza with reindeer cheese on it, obviously. That would be gross.

Lots of little headcanons and explanation in this one, but only because they're sort of necessary for the story. I never really got why people thought Chrysalis should tell Shining to drop his shield; we clearly see him recharge it in one burst instead of constantly broadcasting it. He obviously needs to sleep and keep that thing up. Seems like it should work independently of him, doesn't it?

Chocolate oil... that is indeed a Sweeney Todd reference. If you haven't seen Ray Winstone in the BBC version yet, be sure to look it up and check it out. It's a far more dignified, even intense, piece of work than Tim Burton's take on it. I would have kept the explanation in author's notes only, or in blogs, but that would be unfair. As is, it's easier to search, if a little more telly.

The terribly clever thing Berry could say? I'm not sure if anyone's ever pointed it out, but just wait. The punchline will come.

Again, just pointing out for any grammar specialists: there are occasions where the word 'princess' is used as a regular noun, and other times when it's used not only as a title to address with, but a rank of magic, like Archmage or Greater Poop. Capitalisation will change accordingly.

As for the sudden and brief change in perspective: it seemed like a good idea at the time, and I wanted the royal pair to have a little bit of depth in this. There's this occult thing regarding crystals, apparently some kings put gems under their thrones to power their *ahem* water chakras. Celestia's city is sitting on top of crystal caves, and Cadence's throne is made of crystals, connected to crystals.

Let's see, Epona's just the obvious name for the ponies' original and now frozen homeland, maybe S5's given us that already, I don't know. What else... oh yeah, Berry says 'welcome back' to a Crystal pony after a thousand years. Funny how they skipped that in the episodes. I mean, seems like the polite thing to say.

Now, for those who think this story is entirely based on Berry's showing up at the jousting: it's not. It's also partially based on the complete lack of kids in the actual Empire, at least when we first see it. Cloudsdale has a similar situation, but that's a headcanon I'll save for another time.

As before, this was first written in TeX, so there may be a few technical issues here and there. That is all.

... oh, fine, insert your Missus Lovejoy memes here.

The Ambiguous Death of Opal Bloom

Berryshine followed the trail of loose sheep, once she'd gotten past the second circle of the city. Whole herds of small, tiny little sheep with beady eyes and glossy coats grazed freely on the hills, undisturbed by the hoofful of Crystal ponies, former herders, no doubt, who wandered around at random.

The farms were what Berry was thinking of, though. If this King Sombra character had separated the children of the Empire from the adults, he had to put them somewhere, she figured that much. Even if he used child labour, there had to be some sort of system to keep track of the little ones. There had to be some place where they were kept.

She stopped when she reached the outskirts of the residential area. A statue had caught her attention: that of a little pony foal standing on its hind hooves, set up on a street corner. She'd seen a few of those statues around, actually, most of them other street corners, and always surrounded by crystal shards cut into triangles, like they were standing in the middle of a bear trap. It looked like the pedestal's shards were supposed to keep vermin from crawling up to the statue, but why those statues had it and not the griphon or princess statues by the public buildings, she could only guess. Must have been a cultural thing.

She brushed the thought aside. If it was part of Crystal pony culture, it would help them remember. Best not to interfere with it, then. She reached the edge of the suburbs and walked into the meadows proper, where even more sheep were running around. A couple of fields had barbed wire around them, though, so it was obvious these sheep weren't wild. And even here, she saw the same sorts of statues in the distance, all marking the edges of a street. They weren't on all the corners, though. Maybe they ran out of whatever material the things were made of.

Berry trotted over to the first building that looked vaguely like a stable, though with the crystals replacing so much of the wood that was a bit of a stretch. Her heart pounded as she opened the door to the stable. She poked her head in, gulping in terror. What if there weren't any kids here? What if there were, and they were hurt, or worse?

"Hello?"

No answer came. Berry pushed against the heavy door to let some light into the shed. She caught a shape in the corner of her eye and walked towards it. It looked like a filly, going by the bow.

"Hi, there. No need to be scared, I'm here to help."

Her heart sank when she saw what she was talking to. She hadn't found the children of the Empire after all, just a misplaced statue, identical to the ones outside. Same model, same material, different pose. Sombra must have tried to plunder these things when he enslaved the adults. The material looked precious enough for it, now that she saw it up close. It was well crafted, she had to admit.

Tsss...

Berry's ears perked at the hissing sound. On a whim, she pushed open the door to let the light flood the stable. Every little stall was the same: hay, water, and a statue of a filly. The place must have been a smithy or a smashing ground when Sombra was in charge, or a warehouse.

"Weird."

She sat down and thought. The kids weren't wandering around, but the adults were, and the adults tended to stick to places they remembered vaguely. Kids wouldn't wander to a school or a library, she figured that much. And the farms were the only places that were likely to turn into prisons when corrupted, except for actual prisons.

Now there was a thought. Did Crystal ponies have Crystal prisons? But that train of thought didn't make any sense, either. If Sombra had a prison, he'd have had wardens. Even assuming he'd corrupted or enslaved some adults to keep the children locked away, those adults should now be back to normal and letting the kids out.

Tsss...

Again, that hissing sound came.

Berry opened the latch of the first stall she'd found and inspected the statue more closely. It was definitely the same style as she'd seen outside, at least the statues of foals. The griphon statues outside the library were clearly not made by the same hooves. This statue, and its many neighbours, was made of a grey marble, with little sparkles along the surface. Unlike the griphon statues, this one wasn't stylised as much. The eyes were clearly visible, or rather the eyesockets. The eyelashes were fragile-looking outgrowths of stone, and the eyebrows were marked by little outcroppings. It must have taken a very steady hoof to make this one, or any of them. It looked like an individual, pure and simple, and going by the details on the rest Berry could only guess these were part of a set of some sorts, maybe made to commemorate some catastrophe.

Yes, that had to be it. The Crystal ponies must have made these things to commemorate some disaster that killed their children en masse, probably an epidemic, or a run-in with one of the ancient pipers that preyed on children. No wonder Sombra had hidden most of them away: these things must have had some major emotional and cultural value to the Crystal ponies. That explained why they surrounded the things with crystal edges, too: to keep any rats away. Lots of plagues were carried by rats, after all. It all made sense, seeing these things up close.

The one in front of her, right in the first stall, unsettled Berry, though, and it took her a while to figure out why.

It looked like Applejack's little sister, right down to the little bow.

Berry bit her lip. The farm was a dead end, obviously. Nothing but statues and most likely unpleasant memories. She could bring one of the adults, perhaps. If Onyx' reaction to making bagels was anything to go by, the mere sight of these things could give the Crystal ponies their shine back.

Tsss...

That hissing was starting to really bother Berry now. She looked around the floor for any snakes that might be slithering around, but found none. It wouldn't do to have any Crystal pony be bitten. She wasn't even sure if they had modern medicine.

Her gaze fell on the statue again. The eyes of the thing were pretty lifelike, she had to admit. The proportions were all accurate, too. In fact, if she didn't know any better, she might have confused it for the real thing.

It was only now that she realised why these statues looked so lifelike.

"Oh, Sun, Moon and Stars, I'm such an idiot," Berry quickly put her arms around the things neck and started patting it. As soon as she laid a hoof on its surface, she felt the tell-tale throb of magic and pulse. Realisation hit her like an anvil. "You're not a statue, are you? You're alive in there. Can you see me, hear me?"

"Tsss..." The statue hissed. Berry put a hoof in front of the thing's nose. She could feel the warm air passing through, but it was just a vague hint. There was no duct for the air to pass through, it was pure magic and memory keeping it going.

"What? What's the matter?"

"Thrrssst..."

"What?" Berry leaned closer.

"Thrrsstty..."

Berry wasted no time getting her saddlebag open. "Oh, you are in luck, then, little filly. Taking care of thirst is what I'm good at. Here, try this." She put a vial of children's apple cider to the girl's lips and tipped it slightly. To her horror, though, it wouldn't go in. The stuff dribbled uselessly over the stone surface.

"Sss-sry."

"Don't worry about it, little girl, just drink as much as you can."

A glimmer of life started washing over the girl. Her eyes slowly went from marble to a wetter-looking glassy substance, and her lips began to quiver as she tried to get some liquids into a body that wasn't there anymore.

"Okay, good, that's it."

"Can't muh-move..." the girl stammered. The changes stopped after reaching her eyes, leaving her stuck in her stone prison but, Berry feared, fully aware of the horror of her situation.

"Don't worry, I'm here with Prince Shining Armour and Princess Cadence. They're helping to rebuild your home, they'll fix you right back up."

"C-can't..."

"Just stay awake, sweetie, keep drinking. I've got plenty more, doesn't matter if you spill a little." Berry kept trying to get the girl to drink, but she didn't have a throat to swallow with yet, but a stone pit in the inside of her mouth.

"I wuh mumom..." With a sickening creek, the girl's petrified eyelids started closing, and a crystal tear formed on her face.

Berry kept on patting, trying vainly to get the girl warmed up, to get some sensation through her petrified fur. "I can get your mom for you, sweetie. Everyone's back, they're waiting for you. Just keep drinking, you'll get out of this."

"I can't..." The stone eyelids closed fully.

"Just tell me your name, and I'll ask around and get your mom, I promise."

"O-Opal Bloom."

"See? You just gotta remember, and you'll get out in no time. King Sombra's not gonna hurt you anymore."

The shock that went through the statue sent a jolt down Berry's arm. She flinched and withdrew, nursing her arm to get that awful cold numbness to go away. She felt her cutie mark glow as she did, and the pain subsided without a second thought.

Not for Opal Bloom, though.

"Opal Bloom?" Berry put her hoof back on the petrified girl. There was no throb now, no pulse, no hiss, nothing.

The girl's face was wide-eyed, her jaw open in a suppressed scream of pain and terror.

"Opal Bloom?" Berry patted the surface of the stone again. "Come on, sweetie, I know you're in there. You just have to remember."

The stone remained still.

Berryshine looked it in the eyes. "Okay, very funny. You really got me there. Now come on, just move. Any little thing, just remember. You can move if you remember."

The stone remained still.

Berryshine winced and tried to rest her ear where the girl's heart should be. Nothing.

"A-are you thirsty? I've got more drinks for you to try. Here, some grapefruit juice." Berry held another bottle under the girl's nose.

"No grapefruit? What about a little sip of wine, huh? Come on, have a sniff of this. That's some of the best herbal wine you'll ever taste. It'll get that blood flowing again."

The statue didn't sniff. It didn't even breathe.

"Please move?"

Nothing.

Berry let her head hang. She should have known. The very name of the old tyrant was enough to give pangs of migraine and amnesia to the adults.

And just because she'd had to meddle in somepony else's affairs, she'd condemned a child to a lifeless stone prison. No breath, no pulse, even that vague sensation of a magical throb was gone.

"I'm sorry, Opal Bloom. I'm so sorry."

Wiping a tear off her face and groaning, Berry dragged herself up to her hooves. There were three more farms to check. From what she could tell, these were all fillies, so the boys had to be kept in one of the other buildings nearby.

She just had to check where they were.

She wouldn't touch any, wouldn't even speak.

She wasn't going to kill another one.

"Berry! Over here!"

"Onyx? Oh my, you look so... shiny."

Indeed, she did. The Crystal pony really lived up to the title now, her whole body alight with sparkles, and her very skin and organs seeming to have turned transparent. She looked like she was made of glass, and her hairstyle had changed somehow.

She was also wearing what looked like a hat made by an arts and crafts pony, a hat that had 'Rarity Original' scribbled on the rim.

The Elements of Harmony were famous for a long list of things. Subtlety was not among them.

"I know, isn't it great? It's just like you said, those other ponies have shown up and they're holding a Crystal Fair. We've got Crystal berries, a petting zoo with ewes, corn on a cob, everything's alright again. I ran out of bagels, can you believe that? I'm sold out, and everypony's happy. I'm happy. I remember now, so do the others. What's the matter? Did you find..."

"I found them." Berry nodded. "Four farms full of them, a couple hundred. I'm not sure if there'd be any more."

"No, that's about what we had before," Onyx replied. "We were kind of a tourist spot, we never had a lot of natives in the city. Where are they, though? They should see the Fair."

Berry sighed and took her friend to a street corner away from prying eyes and ears. "I, umm... I don't know how to tell you this."

"What's wrong?"

"They're turned to stone. All of them."

Onyx' glow started to fade again. "Oh. But... Sombra's magic still works? But that's terrible."

Berry could see that crystal mane start to deflate again. "Onyx, what's going on? You're losing your colour again."

Onyx meekly shook her head and rubbed it to stave off the vertigo that was washing over her. "Oh, I remember now. That monster, he took our young and he-"

"Hey, how about some corn on a cob?"

Berry barely had time to blink before a blue shape shoved the Crystal pony aside and dragged her towards a stand closer to the tower. "Rainbow Dash, what is going on here? Are you... are you ponies seriously organising a Renaissance fair?"

Rainbow sighed and chuckled nervously once Onyx was distracted and smiling and shining again. "Eheh, yeah. Twilight found this book that said the Crystal ponies use a Crystal Fair to recharge some Crystal Heart that'll protect the Empire."

Berry's eyes were fixed on her Crystal pony friend. That's all it took, apparently: a corn on a cob. The worst news imaginable, a shock right down to the very core, and all it took was a corn on a cob to feel just fine.

For a fleeting moment, Berry envied Onyx and her kind. But she had other concerns to deal with. "Huh. How does that work?"

"I don't know, I think it's got something to do with them getting power from their traditions and the spirit of love and unity, mushy stuff like that. All I know is we gotta keep the Crystal ponies happy so they don't lose their shine. They need that to charge the Crystal Heart. So, umm, if you could maybe not do whatever you just did, that'd be great."

"Right, sorry. It's just that I met Onyx before and she, umm, well, never mind. I'm sure that now you're here everything's going to be okay."

"Berry." Rainbow put a hoof on the Earth pony's shoulder. "What's going on? Why did that Crystal pony start turning grey again?"

Berryshine sighed. "Haven't you noticed there aren't any kids around?"

Rainbow shrugged. "Of course I've noticed. But none of the Crystal ponies are worried about it, and Princess Cadence didn't mention anything."

"Well, I know where they are. The kids, I mean. There's some sheep farms up on the slopes due north, that's where Sombra put them."

"So why didn't you let them out?"

"I..." Berry stopped the tears from coming when Opal Bloom's face flashed before her eyes. "They're statues, Rainbow Dash."

"What do you mean, statues? Crystal ponies don't have statues for kids. At least, I don't think they do. And Sombra's magic got switched off."

"Not all of it, Rainbow. Whatever he did to the kids, it's still on. They're all kept away, and they're all petrified, like Discord, or cockatrice magic."

"Oh." Rainbow Dash winced in sympathy. "Wow, that's awful. Have you told anyone else about it?"

"I was going to talk to Princess Cadence about it, or try and get some of the Crystal ponies over there so they can comfort their kids."

Rainbow Dash flew up a notch and flailed her arms. "No, that's a bad idea."

"Why?"

She kept her voice down to a whisper, looking around for any eavesdroppers. "If they find out their kids have been turned to stone, that Sombra is still out there, and they can't do anything about it, then they might lose their sparkle. Twilight told us to keep the Crystal ponies happy. You can't scare them with something like that."

Berry sighed. "Then what am I supposed to do?"

"Let us take care of it. We're used to this sort of thing. Trust me, once that Crystal Heart thingie gets charged up again, they'll all come back to life."

"You mean if they're still alive when they come out of it."

"Why wouldn't they be? That's how it always is."

A glimmer of hope shone through Berry's heart at that. Maybe she hadn't killed Opal Bloom after all. Or maybe she had and the Crystal Heart would bring the girl back to life anyway. That sort of thing did happen quite a lot when the magic of love, unity or friendship was involved. "I guess that's true. I think I'd still better check with Princess Cadence. You know, give her a status update."

"Fine by me. Hey, you can drop by the jousting later, if you want. If you really wanna help, cheering should keep everypony's spirits lifted."

Berry chuckled. "Maybe. I'll try."

"Oh, and Berry?"

"What?"

Rainbow smiled. "Good job. None of us thought about finding the kids first."

Berry chuckled nervously. "It's nothing, Rainbow Dash. You've got bigger things to worry about, that's all." She trotted further along, past the cider barrels and arts and crafts set up by the Elements of Harmony. To think it had come to this, though, that Equestria's heroes had to make a Fair to lift ponies' spirits.

Beats having to deal with monsters, probably. She passed by the Crystal Heart, which was covered by a sheet, located dead centre of the tower's ground level, and guarded by Applejack.

"Berta Rummy Moonshine, what are you doin' here?" she asked.

"Got on the wrong train. Guarding the Crystal Heart?"

"Err, yup, guardin' the Crystal Heart for the big reveal." Applejack nudged away some inquisitive Crystal ponies who came for a quick look.

"Good. Wouldn't want it to get stolen." Berry just strode on past the mare towards the entrance. No sense getting sidetracked with stories about how they found the Heart, after all. She could take a wild guess: seeing as the magic was channelled through the land, the Heart must have been hidden farthest away from the land, or the ground, as possible. The only place it could have been hidden was the top of the highest tower of the Empire, which happened to be the one she was in now. That was how it was in faerie tales too, after all. Rainbow Dash had probably done a quick flyby and nabbed the thing, it was obvious.

Although part of Berry did wonder if Twilight Sparkle wouldn't feel slightly jealous of her winged friend making things so easy. Not like the unicorn could really help it, without wings.

That thought sent a shudder through her core. Twilight Sparkle with wings, what a nightmare that would be. Ponyville could barely keep up as it was.

First thing Berry noticed when she entered the balcony room was Shining Armour. He was injured; black shrapnel lodged in his horn.

She rushed over to him. "Oh, Deer Lords, what happened to you? You're hurt!"

Shining shook his head and rubbed over his horn, wincing only as much as a military pony was allowed. "I'm fine, it's just a little bit of crystal."

"But... can you still fight?"

"No, my magic's pretty much blocked right now," he replied. "I can't recharge my shield anymore."

"What about that thing outside?"

"It's getting bigger, big enough to surround the city," Cadence said.

It was only then that Berry noticed Cadence's state. Her mane had lost some of its lustre, her eyes looked bleary and her breath came in ragged. No wonder she'd moved out of the throne room and into the open. "Whoa. You don't look so good, either, Your Highness."

"It's just Cadence, please. And don't worry, Twilight's on it. How've you been holding up?"

"Umm, I told the Crystal ponies about the Elements of Harmony, so they wouldn't be scared."

"Oh, good, you probably shaved off some precious minutes with that." Cadence chuckled weakly. "Did you make any new friends? We're going to have to start thinking about diplomacy once everything's back in order."

Again, the image of poor Opal Bloom flashed through her mind. But she wasn't entirely convinced of her own failure now, that was an improvement. "Sure, I think a couple of Crystal ponies know my name now. Actually, that's what I wanted to talk to you about."

"What's the matter, Berry?" Shining Armour asked.

"Umm, I found the children of the Empire."

"The children?" Cadence asked.

"Yes, the Crystal foals. I didn't see any out in the streets, so I went looking. They're all penned up in sheep farms up on the north side of town."

Cadence flashed a bright smile at that, belying her weakened state. "That's great. Did you manage to get them out?"

"Uh, no. They're turned to stone."

Shining frowned. "Well, petrification magic's pretty complicated, but it can't be that hard to undo. How many of them are petrified?"

"All of them. Hundreds."

Cadence winced. "Oh. That's awful. Why would anyone do something like that to innocent children?"

"Scare tactic, probably," Shining said. "It's a lot easier to enslave ponies if you have leverage, saves up magical power so you don't have to control their minds all the time. Less food wasted on ponies that are too small for hard labour, too. But, Berry, are the kids safe, at least? There's no damage to the stones? No erosion?"

"No, they're fine, as far as I can tell. They're just statues. I tried to wake one up, but I think I..." She felt something catch in her throat.

"You what, Berry?" Cadence asked.

"The girl was trying to get something to drink. She was starting to come out of it, move again and everything but then she... she snapped back when she heard Sombra's name. And then there was nothing. No moving, no magic pulse, not even a little. I felt a pulse even when she wasn't moving before, and then after, she... I think I might have killed her."

Shining shrugged. "Don't worry about it. Magic like that can be fixed, and the Crystal Heart can bring her back to life. It'll bring them all to life."

"How are you so sure about that?"

"That's how it works," Cadence replied. "Love magic, like mine, and the Crystal Heart's, restores life. That's probably why Sombra tried to take over in the first place: find out how the Crystal Heart works, use it to sustain himself."

Berry's Common Sense tingled again. "Wouldn't something with that much good magic, I don't know, hurt evil magic?"

"Not if he can touch it," Shining explained. "Spells lose power at long range, but when you touch an artefact, it can heal you, or you can corrupt it. That's the theory, at least."

"Then Sombra will be trying to get his hooves on the Crystal Heart again, heal up on it."

"Probably," Shining replied. "But we've got that covered now. Besides the one you think you hurt, are the others all okay?"

"Yes, really, I checked. Every stall, every statue I could find was still in one piece, pristine, even. But I was wondering what I'm supposed to do with them and their parents. I mean, Twilight and her friends are doing this Crystal Fair thing now?"

"It's to recharge their magic artefact with love and harmony," Cadence said. "That'll keep the Empire safe, and banish Sombra. Or destroy whatever's left of him."

"Uhuh. And it's giving the Crystal ponies their memories back, right?"

"Right."

Berry's Common Sense really fired up now. "Then why aren't there any parents looking for their children right now? Shouldn't they remember? Shouldn't they worry?"

Cadence rose up with a force of will and rubbed her undoubtedly pounding head. "Berryshine, try to understand. My magic isn't going to give the Crystal ponies their magic back, it's just a little patch. They'll only get their sparkle back once the Crystal Heart is recharged, then they'll remember and keep remembering. But right now, if they start panicking or worrying, they'll go back to being empty, like before. Right now, any Crystal pony who remembers their child will pop back and forget they had children in the first place."

"Oh, of course. So what's the plan, then? Wait for enough Crystal ponies to get their power back, and fire the Heart once Sombra shows his face again?"

"Yes," Cadence replied. "That's the whole plan."

"Well, excuse me, Princess, but that sounds like a terrible plan. You just said there's gigantic shadow of doom closing in on the Empire, and the only thing the heroes of Equestria are doing is organising a Renaissance fair that's not even a real Renaissance fair because the Renaissance happened five hundred years after these guys vanished." She only now realised what that really meant. "They're doing a Naissance fair, for crying out loud!"

"What else is there?" Shining asked.

"Oh, I don't know, maybe the Elements of Harmony could bring in, just a thought, the Elements of Harmony. You keep saying so yourself, this whole place thrives on love and harmony and it's the only thing that'll stop the bad guy outside. Why not just break out the old Rainbow Laser of Friendship and be done with it?"

"We don't know if that would work," Shining argued. "That could blow up the whole Empire."

"Sombra obviously didn't blow up the whole Empire when he was in charge, and he did it worse. And evil-y."

Cadence let out a weary gust of a sigh. "Berry, listen, I appreciate you taking initiative, I really do, and I'm glad you found the children. You did a good thing. But banishing King Sombra and protecting the Empire is our responsibility, and we will take care of it."

"Pardon my candour, Your Royal Highnesses, but that's not good enough. Have you looked at yourselves in the mirror lately? You look like Death needing a drink and your husband looks like he took a shrapnel grenade in the face. And meanwhile, the only ones who have any firepower around here left their firepower back home. How is that taking care of it?"

"Berryshine, please. I know this looks a little bit bleak, but we have a plan, and it's a good one. The Crystal Empire can't rely on the Elements of Harmony to protect it, because if it did, the Crystal ponies might lose the power of the Crystal Heart altogether. That's not even mentioning this is still technically a foreign nation, and the Elements of Harmony are, technically, magical artefacts that some ponies might consider weapons of war. We really don't want to end up on the wrong page of the history books here."

Berry snorted. "If you say so."

"Look, I understand you're upset, honest. I've been where you are now, and I know it's not a nice place, being powerless to help when things are going wrong around you."

There, Berry had to admit, the Princess had a fair point.

"But the best thing you can do for the children right now is to help find a sustainable solution. And that means keeping the Crystal ponies, the adults, happy, by reminding them of their traditions and lifting their spirits so their magic can protect them again."

"Uhuh. Because charging the Crystal Heart will protect them."

"Exactly."

"And they'll charge it with their sense of identity and tradition. Their sense of self, that spirit of love and unity only Crystal ponies have."

"Correct."

Berryshine would have rolled her eyes at the idea, and she had a perfect rebuttal, she truly did, but the situation still did not call for it. Cadence was obviously exhausted, Shining Armour looked like he was getting annoyed with this uppity tag-along, and arguing any more wouldn't help anyone, least of all the children. "Okay, then. So we'll leave the kids where they are?"

"They're probably safer where they are, yes. At least for now. You did good, Berry, you can relax at the Fair. Join the crowds, I'm sure they'll appreciate another Equestria pony there." Cadence forced out another gentle smile, not so much forced because she wasn't being genuine but from the sheer effort it took to hold it up.

Berry nodded and smiled back. "Okay. And I'll go looking for that chocolate oil again."

A tiny flash of surprise washed over the alicorn's face, but it was quickly eclipsed by a broader smile. "Yes, please do. One of the Crystal ponies is bound to remember it by now."

Berryshine turned and trotted off. "I guess I'll go watch the jousting, then, ask around there."

"You do that. And don't worry: we have everything under control!"

Berry rolled her eyes once she was out of sight. "Sure you do."

She sighed when she reached the bottom of the stairs.

"Princess Cadence wasn't angry with you, was she?" Applejack asked when she saw Berry's sunken mood.

"No, no, just a little difference in philosophy, you know how it goes."

"Sure do. Hey, were you the one that told the Crystal ponies we'd be comin', by any chance?"

"Hmm? Yeah, that was me. Seemed like the sensible thing to do."

"Good thinkin', you saved us a lot of time."

Berry nodded.

"What's the matter?" Applejack walked beside her friend and business partner. After all, Berry wasn't an Apple, but she was in the business of food and drink, something Applejack regarded as highly as most ponies regarded knights.

"Oh, nothing, just... you're all here, saving the Empire, and me, I just got on the wrong train. Or, actually, I got on the right train, it was just hijacked for a royal mission. I shouldn't be here at all. You're heroes, I'm just getting in the way, even if I think I'm doing it right."

Applejack snorted. "Aww, shucks, Berryshine, don't go gettin' all emotional now. You know as well as I do that me and my friends make mistakes just like anypony else. Only difference between you and me is a necklace and a royal order, and I ain't wearin' my necklace."

"Suppose that's true. Still feels weird, though."

"Well, then you'd better not let any Crystal ponies notice. These fellers have got a hair trigger for their magic, any little thing can set'em off for good or bad."

"Yeah, I've noticed. I'll be at the jousting, then, try to lift their spirits a little. It all sounds so silly, though."

"That's 'coz it is, but you know how the story goes: magic is as magic does. If that's what's gotta happen for these guys to get their home back in order, it's gotta happen."

Berry sighed and went off towards the jousting ring. "Yup, it's gotta happen. At least you don't have to go looking for that Crystal Heart, right?"

Applejack clenched her jaw, thankfully unseen by Berry. "Yeah, else we'd be in a mighty pickle..."

Author's Note

Not quite as much to say about this one. Originally the children were all conscious and simply stuck to the ground by black horseshoes. But that wasn't quite as emotional, didn't give Berry enough of a motivator, and barring some physical torture involving nails it wasn't that cruel to the kids, either. The statue thing makes more sense, and as Shining points out: it solves a practical problem.

Sombra's Final Trick

Berryshine wasn't a sadist, per se, but seeing Fluttershy suffer made her smile nonetheless. Most ponies learned to appreciate a good bit of Schadenfreude from dealings in Canterlot, after all, and Fluttershy's helpless squealing upon being dragged to the jousting arena was entertainment enough all on its own.

Of course, Rainbow Dash had to have a worthy opponent for the jousting since, as she herself put it, 'seeing her awesomeness can really lift ponies' spirits.' The Crystal ponies were excited, as they were for all of the Fair. Berry had to hand it to the Elements of Harmony: they'd gotten a lot of Crystal ponies to shine and sparkle again. Wouldn't be worth it to spoil it all now.

As Rainbow donned her shiny blue armour and Fluttershy did the same, Berry forced herself to smile and be swept up by the crowd. She had to admit, that armour did make them both look rather dashing, and the bout was intense, if short. It wasn't a fair fight, not by a long shot. Fluttershy could barely hold up her spear, Rainbow Dash effortlessly launched the yellow mare into some safety hay.

Judging from the cheers, though, the Crystal ponies had just as much of a sadistic streak to them as Berry did.

"Way to go, Knight Rainbow Dash!" Berryshine shouted.

"Knight who?" a Crystal pony next to her asked. This one was a stallion, with a very bright blue coat and golden blonde mane and tail. No sparkles yet, though.

"Rainbow Dash. That's her name. The one with the rainbow mane, I mean."

"Err, I hope it's not uncouth to ask, but is that her natural mane colour?"

Berry blinked and thought. "Come to think of it, no one's really sure. Back home, most ponies assume it is. I don't think you get a rainbow do on purpose."

"Wow. Coat colours sure have advanced the past millennium. At least it's easy to remember her name that way. Who's the other one?"

"The yellow one? She's called Fluttershy. And the jester with the flugel horn is called Pinkie Pie. We're from the same town. Not neighbours exactly, but close."

"Ah, so you do know these ponies. Are they real knights?"

This, to Berry, was a tricky question. "Err, huh, funny you should mention that. I think they did get knighted after they beat Discord."

"They beat Discord?" a deep blue mare with a very shiny purple do asked. "Whatever for? He's such a nice neighbour. Why, before our crisis, he used to bring us fresh apples every week, straight from the Everfree."

Berryshine turned and stared at the mare. "Wow, you really have been gone a long time."

"Anyway, you were saying? Are they knights?" The stallion asked.

"Sort of. They're the Elements of Harmony, them and the other ponies who've arrived. They wield magical artefacts that are powered by their friendship. They're very close, and always ready to help." Berry laid it on thick, of course, the better to enhance these ponies' confidence.

"If they're so close, why is that one hitting her friend so hard?"

"Yaaaah!" Fluttershy screamed as she was sent flying again.

Berryshine chuckled nervously. "Well, err, that's Rainbow Dash for ya. She's all about the tough love. She doesn't mean it, though. It's a cultural thing, very modern way of expressing your feelings."

"Kyaaah!" Again, Fluttershy got the business end of that jousting spear to her chest and flew off.

Berry snickered. She really shouldn't, though, she knew better. That tiny little mean streak of hers had led to more than enough awkward insults and even more awkward apologies.

It was just so fun sometimes, and it was all harmless in the long run. Just like Rainbow Dash didn't mean to hurt her friend, any of her friends.

That's just what they did, and they had their little accidents, like any pony. No need to get riled up thinking about sort of thing, even if Berry couldn't be sure her own accident with Opal Bloom would be fixed.

Berry sighed and looked up at the sky. For the briefest moment, she could've sworn the sky above blinked. It turned back to the muddy brown it had been before flickering to its natural blue state.

Berry's stomach knotted again, and for once, she didn't think a drink would fix it. "Say, how's that spirit of love and unity coming along? Everypony feeling back to their old selves?" She noted with some dread that while the Fair was looking fairly bright, almost no one actually at the jousting had their shine back yet. Most of them looked like plain ponies, still, not the glossy kind they were supposed to be. But they were happier than before, and that was certainly better than nothing.

"Sure are," a mare behind her answered. "Not all of the memories are back, but most of them are."

"Onyx, hi. You like the jousting?"

Onyx smiled brightly, eyes shining with pure joy. "Mhmm, and the arts and crafts, and the petting zoo. It's great, really. Your friends have done a terrific job."

"I wouldn't call them my friends, really. They're more like neighbours. We even fight every now and again."

Onyx chuckled and sat down next to her. "Well, whatever they are, we owe them. And you. If it hadn't been for you, we might have gotten the torches and pitchforks when they showed up. If we remembered where we'd put the torches and pitchforks, of course."

"Oh, they would've explained it fine on their own."

"No offense to your heroes, but I think you're overestimating their ability to use tact and common sense, Berry," Onyx noted.

"Hiyah!" Rainbow Dash let out another war cry as she flung Fluttershy into the haystacks again. "Anypony else want a go at the champ?"

Berry rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I guess I see what you mean. But they are nice, deep down. You just gotta be a little snappy with'em sometimes. They don't mind, they're still normal ponies like you and me."

"Even the pink one?" the stallion next to her asked.

Said pink one was blowing a flugelhorn whilst standing on one front hoof, and dressed in a jester's outfit that had gone out of style along with the dinosaurs. And much like a dinosaur, it was clumsy, loud, and would make any normal pony want to run away once spotted.

"Okay, maybe not the pink one. We're not exactly sure what she's supposed to be. I don't think even she knows. But Fluttershy's been a supermodel, she's been famous for other stuff besides her heroics."

"What's a supermodel?" Onyx asked. "Is that like a modern fantasy hero?"

Berry thought for a moment, looking for terms they would understand. "Umm, no, it's someone who shows off pretty dresses and gets paid for it."

"You can get paid for that now?" Onyx asked. "What a brave new world we've woken up to."

"Yeah, it can be. So, uh, not gonna have any problems charging up that Crystal Heart thingie?"

"I don't see why we would. Every Crystal pony here is getting their shine and sparkle back, one at a time."

Berry smiled. "Must be nice to see your friends again, huh?"

"Yes, and my darling husband."

Berry gasped ever so slightly. Aside from the obvious thousand year difference, Onyx didn't look that much older than Berry did. Late college age, tops. Then again, different time periods had different standards. "Oh? You're married?"

"Yes. To him, actually." Onyx pointed to the stallion next to Berry. He didn't have his shine back yet, and was distracted by the jousting, as one would be.

Berry lowered her voice to a whisper. "You do realise he doesn't know that yet, right?"

"Of course. I'm still wondering how to best spring the surprise."

"So, do you need every Crystal pony to charge the Heart, then?"

"After such a long time? Every little bit should help, I think. Why do you ask?"

That knot in Berry's stomach popped up again. "You don't remember what I was talking about when Rainbow Dash nudged you to that corn stand, do you?"

"Not really, no. Was it terribly important?"

Berry bit her lip and sighed. "Not really, no. Just that... suppose there were some Crystal ponies who couldn't make it here. Like, say, handicapped ones, maybe. What do you think would be best? Wait until the Heart heals them, or take the Fair to them?"

"Take the Fair to them, of course," Onyx replied. "But there's no need for that, since the heroes of Equestria are here now. They've taken care of everything."

"But what if they didn't? What if there was something they missed, or couldn't do, and you had to do it yourself? Wouldn't seeing ponies in such a bad state make you lose your powers again?"

Onyx looked up at the sky. "Goodness, it might, now that you mention it. We inherited that weakness from our reindeer brethren, you know."

"Really? You're related to reindeer? You don't look like it."

"Not by blood, obviously, but by magic, and some of us by marriage. No, our magic is based on the same principles, the same practices, so we have he same strengths and weaknesses as they do. And yes, the way we are now, seeing ponies in a bad state could make us lose our powers, exactly like a reindeer would. A reindeer with fear in his heart cannot fly, and a Crystal pony with despair in her heart cannot shine. But where one dasher leads, the herd follows, and where one crystal shines, the others share the glow."

"Wow, that's kinda deep."

"Crystal Canon," Onyx replied with a flourish. "Very interesting story, very old, but no one really bothers to read it now. Or, they didn't a thousand years ago. Might come into fashion again now, with everything that's happened."

"So would it matter if not everypony was here, or wouldn't it matter?"

"I suppose it might matter. But what ponies? All of my old friends are here." She whispered to Berry again. "My husband is here, even though he doesn't know it yet."

"But what if this Crystal Fair only lets you remember the good things? What if you forgot someone, someone you lost, and you didn't realise? Would that be possible?"

Onyx rubbed her head. "I guess. But that's not the case now. I have my shine again, my sparkle, I remember my life before youknowwho took over."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course I am. Why wouldn't I be?"

Berry's breath quickened. "Are you absolutely sure you remember every pony close to you? Everyone in your family?"

"Sure. There's me, my parents, my husband and his parents, my sister, my husband's two younger brothers, and then there's..."

Berryshine winced as she saw pain wracking her new friend's face.

"My... my daughter. I had a daughter. I have a daugher. That tyrant, he..."

"Careful, Onyx. You'll snap back, you're gonna forget."

"No." Onyx shook her head, unnoticed by the cheering crowds as Fluttershy took another swan dive into the hay. "No, I won't forget again. I remember now. There were families in our street, families with children. Why aren't the children out?" She started looking around furtively. "They should be here, with us. How are we still forgetting that?"

"I tried to tell you," Berry whispered. "I didn't want you to lose your spirit."

"Berryshine, please." Onyx' coat began to lose its sparkle again, but her hair remained in place, and her body still looked like it was made of the same wholesome glassy material as before. "Do you know where our children are? Where my daughter is?"

"Umm, they're fine, really. You're not supposed to know. You'll forget."

Onyx bared her teeth and hissed. "I am not going to forget, I need to know."

Berry bit her lip. "If you really remember, do you know what happened to your daughter? What youknowwho did to the other children?"

"No, I don't. All I know is he stole them away. Whenever anypony would try to protest or question what he did to them, they'd just wake up one morning, go to work and break down into tears. He tried to break our spirit, yes, but none of us ever learned our children's fate. Whoever he struck down like that, they couldn't speak of it for some reason, like they were cursed. Their lips were sealed."

Berry groaned.

"Berryshine, please. My daughter was stolen from me and I don't know what's become of her. Please tell me where she is."

"You're not gonna like what you find, Onyx."

"I know. But I still need to find it. Please, tell me, where is my daughter? What's become of my little Opal Bloom?"

There are times in life when the Universe shows its callous, random side. A train missed, a splash from a careless driver on a rainy day, a random collision with a filly on a scooter that messes up an otherwise perfectly groomed mane.

And then there are times when everything falls into place, when events are not thrown at random but placed very carefully by conspirators that lurk around every corner of life itself.

Berryshine didn't ponder such matters much. She was a simple mare, with her wits about her most of the time.

And while she wasn't always the nicest or most polite of ponies, she was not one to harden her heart.

"Your daughter's name is Opal Bloom?"

"You know that name?"

Berry looked around. Most of the Elements were distracted, and Rainbow Dash was the only one who really knew. From the corner of her eye, Berry could see the sky flicker again. Some of the crystals were turning black, but she didn't dare mention it.

Berryshine took Onyx to a spot away from prying eyes. "I found her, yes. I talked to her."

Onyx' coat took on a brighter shine again. "And?"

Berryshine gulped. "I don't know how to tell you this, but I think I may have accidentally killed her."

To Berry's surprise, Onyx didn't gasp or lose her shine. She just raised an eyebrow. "How, exactly?"

"The kids, every one I could find, they're all statues now. Opal Bloom, she, err, she started coming back to life. She barely managed to hiss, she said she was thirsty, so I gave her some cider. She was coming out of it, slowly. And then..."

"Then, what?"

"She turned back to stone when she heard the name of you-know-who. I think it set something off inside of her. And that was it. No magical pulse, no moving, no nothing."

Onyx closed her eyes. "Of course. That's how he did it. That's how he managed to keep us under control. He couldn't mine out everything and get enough food to sustain us, so he turned the kids into stone. He only struck down the rebels who found out, cursed their mouths shut so we wouldn't join in outrage. It makes sense. But... so Opal Bloom didn't respond at all after that? Just pure stone?"

"Yes. Pure, dead, stone. I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to."

"Berry, did you try to give any cider to the other children?"

"No. None of them moved, and I didn't dare."

Onyx put a hoof on Berry's shoulder. "Cider is Opal Bloom's favourite, Berry. She probably reacted to the stuff in your bag. You didn't kill her; you just couldn't get her out. That's not your fault. If anything, now we know how to get the other kids out."

"But I felt the life go out of her. How can you be so sure? How are you so calm about this?"

"Berryshine, please. We're Crystal ponies, remember? We practically invented petrification magic. Can you take me to my daughter, please? I'd like to take her home again."

"They're all penned up in sheep farms, up North. But how are you planning to get her out?"

"Simple: if a treat from a stranger can almost wake her up, a treat from her mother will surely free her."

Berry looked around and sighed. "You do realise you might end up snapping back and forgetting if you do this, right?"

Onyx winked. "I'll try to keep my heart steady, thank you."

"Okay. Right this way, then."

"Are you absolutely sure you want to do this?" Berryshine asked as they made their way to the farm.

"I'm sure. But pull me away if you hear my voice going flat, okay? If I can't hold on to my spirit, then that's the end of that. If I can, I have to do it. I don't suppose you have any more cider?"

"Yeah, right here." Berry handed another bottle to Onyx.

"I'll be sure to pay you once this is all over."

"Oh, don't mention it. You gave me the bagels for free. It's the least I can do."

Onyx took a deep breath to steady her nerves. "I'm ready."

Berryshine had her hoof on the door to the stable. "I'll be right outside. Remember, there's a lot of them in there."

Onyx nodded. "I know. There's only one I can really get out. I'll try my best. And Berry?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you."

Berryshine pulled the door open and let the Crystal mare in.

Then she sat down in front of the stable, and waited.

She heard Onyx try to coo to her daughter, as well as the familiar sound of a bottle of cider being opened. Then the rubbing, or scraping, of a hoof on stone. Some sobbing, more cooing, then nothing.

After what felt like an eternity, Berry heard what she'd been waiting for.

"Mom?"

Oh, thank the stars, she's alive.

Onyx came out with the filly on her back. The poor thing was exhausted, by the looks of it, or stiff all over. She didn't have the same yellow coat as Apple Bloom, Berry now saw. Opal was more of a light blue, and her mane and tail sagged like they were deflated, same way the other Crystal ponies had been before the Fair. She was smaller, too, maybe two or three years younger. The resemblance was still uncanny, though.

"Opal Bloom, this is Berryshine," Onyx said. "She helped me find you."

"Th-thanks," the girl stammered.

"No problem," Berry replied. "Glad to see you're okay. What are you going to do now? Get the other parents here?"

Onyx shook her head. "I don't think that's a good idea. My little girl only woke up because she could smell the cider. My nephew was right there next to her, he didn't budge when I tried talking to him. Whatever spell is on them is stronger than what was on us. The Crystal Heart will have to free them."

Berry nodded. "At least now we know they're safe, right? They can get out."

"Yes, and I know a little filly who needs a soft bed to recover in." Onyx chuckled, and Opal Bloom chuckled right along with her, trying to hug her mom despite the post-petrification paralysis.

Berry and Onyx walked towards the city centre again. The sky flickered back to its brown tinge again, for just a second.

"Mom?" Opal Bloom asked.

"He's back, isn't he? Sombra?"

"Yes," Berry admitted. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you, I didn't mean to-"

"I know, I understand. Merely a practical issue, or a magical one."

"Mom, I'm scared." Opal Bloom tried to clutch her mother more tightly. Berry could hear the poor girl's limbs cracking as she did.

"It's okay, sweetie. The heroes of Equestria are taking care of it. They've found the Crystal Heart, they'll help us use it to banish King Sombra again, and give everypony their sparkle back. Everything will be okay."

Berry nodded back to the farm. "You are sure that's going to work on them? All of them? The Heart is pretty far."

"Yes, I'm sure they'll come out of it once the Crystal Fair is done. We have the Crystal Heart again, and our magic runs through the land. Everyone within our borders will feel it. As long as Sombra can't touch the Heart, we're perfectly safe. He can't corrupt us from a distance. And he can't keep his spell intact against our magic."

Berry chanced a glance towards a statue of a filly standing on a street corner. By its appearance, it was definitely a petrified child. It stood on its hind legs, like the others she'd seen, and on a high pedestal, surrounded by sharp crystal edges. Its back was arched, and its head thrown backwards so much it was a small wonder it hadn't tipped over under its own weight. It wasn't glued to its pedestal, either.

"Oh, no," Berry said.

"What?" Onyx asked.

"You're absolutely sure the kids'll come out of their shells once the Crystal Heart is fired? Once Sombra's banished?"

"Yes, of course. That's how it works. Why?"

"Why would he put these statues out here?"

Onyx furrowed her brow, thinking. "I'd guess those are the children of the rebels, the ones whose mouths he sealed. He must have wanted to put them on display. How strange, though. Was that statue always there? Was it there when we were slaves?"

Berry rushed over to the statue and tipped it over so it would land on her back. She instantly regretted it, as her assumption that petrified kids would weigh as much as regular kids proved very, very wrong. Luckily, her Earth pony strength kicked in before her spine cracked under the weight. She gently set the statue down on its side. "You don't remember these things standing here? I've seen like six of them around."

"Well, Sombra made quite a spectacle when he dealt with rebels, so... there'd be about two dozen of them, if it's one child per rebel. Why would you take it down? What's the big deal?"

Berry took the empty cider bottle and ran it over the crystal edges of the pedestal. The thing got a clean slice, cutting through glass like it was butter. "The big deal is: why would he put something that sharp around them? Why would he pose them like that? Why would any rebels decide not to rebel anymore?"

A shudder went through Onyx's body. "Oh, no. Maybe he didn't just curse the rebels. He threatened them. If the statues are all standing like that, then when they come back to life..."

Berry looked in terror at the filly statue before her. The girl had been left like that on purpose, she realised now. "They'll start moving enough to tip over, they'll lose their balance once they come out of it, and they'll fall onto these things. They'll be alive again, long enough to fall to their deaths."

Onyx snorted. "One final boobytrap. That monster. So what do we do? Do we ask the Prince and Princess for help?"

Berry sighed as the sky flickered again. "No, there's no time," she lied, knowing that the royal pair would be too weak to do anything even if they could afford to race their way. "You need to get Opal Bloom back home. I'll take care of it."

"No," Onyx shook her head vehemently. "I know these streets better than you do."

"But you didn't even know what happened to the kids, you don't know where they are."

"I know all the ways we used to walk when we were slaves, I know how many of the slaves were silenced. If Sombra did this as a deterrent, there's only about four streets you need to cover, but you'll need to take some shortcuts. You can't cover that ground on your own and expect to get to all of them in time."

"But what about your daughter? She needs to rest."

Quartz Leaf was really enjoying himself at the jousting. This Rainbow Dasher and Flutterby, or whatever they were called, really knew how to put on a good show. Some of the stallions had challenged Rainbow once Flutterby started getting dizzy, and Quartz wondered if he shouldn't join in himself. He didn't have his shine back just yet, after all, maybe joining in on the festivities would help.

Then he saw her walking towards him: a mare of singular beauty. She had her sparkle back, very clearly. Her eyes were deep and spoke of love and comfort, her mane was immaculate, her gait powerful but not frightening. Her cutie mark was a shard of black crystal, shining as brightly as her beautiful deep dark eyes did.

Something stirred in Quartz, a deep longing. He had to ask her her name. He had to get her a drink, talk to her. Something about her made him feel... home.

She stopped right in front of him. Oh, stars, how he hoped he wouldn't mess up his chances. It was love at first sight. She was perfect.

"Hi, my name's Onyx. I'm your wife, this is your daughter. Me and Berry need to take care of something very important, so could you please take little Opal Bloom over for just a moment?"

Quartz' jaw fell open. Evidently, it wasn't love at first sight, and he'd already followed through on his resolution to marry this mare a thousand years ago. She handed him a filly, a delicate little thing that didn't seem to have a lot of life in her.

Opal Bloom. His daughter. He still had a pearl necklace waiting for her back home, to celebrate her birthday. That was before Sombra had killed the Royal Guard, and the royal family. Before the tyrant had corrupted the Crystal Heart, and made the Crystal ponies into slaves. Before Opal Bloom had been stolen from her home, like all the other children. That was a thousand years ago now, too.

Quartz didn't even realise his shine had returned when he took the girl in his arms. "Are you going to be okay? Do you need help?"

"We might, but it's best if you keep it as quiet as you can. Just, umm..." Onyx looked to Berryshine for advice.

"We're going to be running around town looking for statues. It's nothing big, but there's about two dozen that are made of marble. They might tip if the Crystal Heart is charged up, and they're really precious, so we're going to put them down on the ground. We don't want them to break, that's all. We'd better hurry, though."

"Right." Onyx kissed dear Quartz on the cheek. "I have so much to tell you, honey, but I have to move fast, right now. Take care of Opal Bloom for me."

"Will do. I'll go look for any statues, too."

"They shouldn't be too big. Just foal-sized ones, barely light enough to lift. There's shards on the pedestals around them. You'll know them when you see them. But stay close to the Crystal Heart, okay?" Onyx called out as she galloped off. "Our little girl's going to want to see it charged up again."

Author's Note

Took a few tries to get the edits to save, so there may be one or two technical slip-ups in there again.

'Rainbow Dasher' is based off the reindeer name, obviously, since Crystal ponies and reindeer know each other in this story. No, the fact that I made 'Dancer' Scootaloo's family name in another fic isn't a reindeer reference, that's just because her parents match up nicely that way. 'Flutterby' is a reference to a children's book, also about a pegasus. I haven't read it myself, but apparently it's good.

The reindeer magic backstory, as well as Santa Fell, is taken directly from the Niko movies: Niko and the Way to the Stars (Or Niko and the Flight Before Christmas, depends who you ask), and Niko: Little Brother, Big Trouble. I highly recommend you check those films out when you get the chance, I have a sort-of review saved up for Christmas in case anyone needs more convincing by then.

Note that I'm not using the Alternate Universe tag because it still follows the events of the S3 opener.

Just one more chapter to go and we're done.

Awkward Introductions and Goodbyes

"I hope we didn't lose too much time," Berry said as they galloped away from the city center.

“No, we had to start from there anyway. I think I know the pattern they'll be in. We just need to check all the roads that lead to a water well. Those are the roads that we had to walk as slaves. Those are the roads we couldn't avoid." Onyx' voice barely started to go back to its monotone.

Berry fell silent as they reached the first one. Another little girl, this one with her arms open as if she were crucified, and ready to plunge her chest into the shards around the pedestal.

"We'll tip her over together," Onyx said, starting to push the thing over.

Berry saw the exertion on the mare's face. "Wait a second, you can't lift that on your own?"

"N-no. I could really use some help here."

"Wait, hang on." Berry dragged the girl down by her arms and almost found herself crushed under the weight. She staggered back with the massive thing in her arms, before gently placing it on the ground. Her muscles burned, but she wouldn't show it.

Onyx whistled, impressed. "Oh, my. Are you sure you're not a hero? You have the strength of a reindeer buck."

"Earth pony strength," Berry said, rubbing her sore back. "Sombra must have counted on these things being too heavy for a Crystal pony, too."

The sky flickered again.

Onyx sighed, before pointing her snout towards their next target. "We'd best get moving. There's the first water well, and another filly.”

Berry rushed towards the statue and pulled it down by the neck, letting its weight fall on her again. She was quicker this time, but still as gentle as she could muster. "What's so special about the water wells, then? How are you so sure it's only these streets?"

Onyx suppressed a growl as she headed off towards the next well. "Sombra made us drain the water wells, then turned them into mine shafts. There's two more children." She tried to help steady the things as Berry pulled them down, one after the other, but it was clear the Crystal pony wasn't up to the task.

Berry groaned and hissed under her breath, but her body still endured. She gasped for air when the first one went down, then yelped when she cut her wrist on one the shards around the second one. Once the third kid was secured, she put some alcohol on the cut and dressed it with an emergency bandage she carried around for bandage emergencies.

"So, what, Sombra tried to mine out the crystals?" Berry asked, if only to distract herself from the pain.

Onyx trotted along, Berry in tow. "No, not the crystals. Sombra wanted something more valuable than that."

"And that was?"

Onyx stopped and nodded towards a statue that was standing on one hoof, poised to fall down on her back when brought back to life. "There's another one."

Berry grunted and heaved, and put the thing down safely. Five down, if her count wasn't off.

Finally, the Crystal pony thought of a good enough answer. "Do you still have worship in this day and age?"

Berry took a moment to catch her breath, then galloped forward. Onyx took the hint and ran ahead of her.

"We don't really pray anymore, if that's what you mean."

"But do you know what sacred ground is?"

"Sure. It's consecrated, blessed. It's got a magic charge, it's usually off limits. You're supposed to respect that."

They were almost at the sheep meadows now. Another water well stood due west of them, and another statue stood right in front of them. Berry's body was shaking all over, but she didn't even think twice before lifting another petrified girl out of harm's way.

"And do you know what holy water is?" Onyx asked as she tried to bear as much of the thing's weight as she could.

Berry gasped for air and wiped her brow. She'd cut herself again, this time on her right hind hoof when she'd put it up against the pedestal to steady herself. She took a swig of cherry beer, to numb herself to the pain. "Yeah, we still know the concept. Water with a charge, right? It's supposed to heal, or bless, or purify. But that kind of magic's really old, nopony uses that nowadays. Do you?"

"You might say that we built our Empire on it. Suppose you could freeze holy water, and it wouldn't lose its power. What do you think you could do with that?"

Berry thought it over as they picked up the pace again. "Oh. So Sombra was going to make you mine out ice?”

"The sacred permafrost underneath our Empire, yes, beneath the layers we use to store energy. He took hold of our minds and souls by corrupting the Crystal Heart. The crystals in our city only affect the continent. With enough time, he could have done the same to the roof of the world and enslaved the whole planet. That's why we only need to check the routes to the water wells. That's where we worked."

Berry stopped as they reached another little girl, this one posed to look like she was swooning. If Berry could tell the trajectories right, this one would have landed with her throat on the sharp edges. "And, umm, if you don't mind me asking, how long did he manage to stay in power?"

Onyx shrugged, before getting into position to pull. "I can't say. The Crystal Heart was such a big part of our lives, when it was stolen we lost our sense of time. It might have been weeks, months, years. Maybe he only had a day, and he made it feel like an eternity."

Berry gritted her teeth and pulled. Another one down, another one safe. "Once this is over, you should visit Equestria sometime. Everything's new now, you should see it, you and your family."

Onyx smiled and wiped some sweat off her brow. "I think I will. But this first."

"Right. Don't worry, the Elements of Harmony have got the Crystal Heart safe, Sombra won't be able to touch it ever again."

"I know. We're just cleaning up his mess while the real heroes take care of it."

"Okay, so that's Citrine Street, the Marble Quarter, and Farmers' Corner. That just leaves Tin Lane," Onyx said, panting.

Berryshine's whole body burned with the exertion, and her back creaked with every step she took. While she did make good times on the annual Falling of the Leaves runs, she wasn't used to hauling heavy weights. And, evidently, neither was Onyx.

They reached the final statue just as the sky flickered again.

Cryssstalls...

"Sombra's getting closer. They'll be firing the Crystal Heart soon," Onyx said as they pulled off the last of the statues. This one was another filly, and much like the others, it was posed for certain death.

Berry tipped the thing and let it land harmlessly on her back. Her hooves were in agony, now, because of little cuts that had accumulated from the shards around the pedestals. Sombra certainly liked his boobytraps, Berry could tell that much.

The girl, whom Onyx knew as little Copper, weighed a ton, just like the other petrified children, but Berryshine gritted her teeth and set her down gently, rolling the thing over so she'd be on her side. The pair checked the surroundings to make sure it was safe, then Onyx let off a sigh of relief.

"You covered the whole city. You did it," Onyx said.

"We did it."

Onyx chuckled and nudged her new friend. "You're the one who did all the heavy lifting, Berryshine. You saved our children."

"I wouldn't have known where they were if it wasn't for you," Berry argued. "Anyway, you're sure that's the last of them?"

"Yes, we've gone full circle: every water well that used to be a mining shaft, every road that led to them. Every place Sombra could put a child on display, we've gone over. It's done."

The streets began to quake. Berryshine and Onyx exchanged a worried glance.

"Maybe we should head to the Crystal Heart now,” Onyx said.

"Probably a good idea. But hey, just out of curiosity, that Crystal Heart, that's not going to, you know, fry everything that's not a Crystal pony, right?"

"No, it shouldn't. It's perfectly safe," Onyx said as she saw clamouring crowd in front of the Crystal Palace. "Why are they all standing in front of the balcony and not around the Crystal Heart?"

Berryshine frowned and looked at the Fair as the shadow appeared again. There he was, that old shadow of a tyrant, driving some of the stragglers onward.

A shiver ran down her spine, and she looked up on instinct. Right at the tip of the tower stood a purple baby dragon, carrying what looked like a heart made out of crystal.

"Why isn't the Crystal Heart down there, where they left it?" Onyx asked, looking up as well.

Berry's heart sank. "Because they never had the Crystal Heart in the first place, they've been looking for it this whole time. They probably figured any heart made out of crystal would do. Why didn't they just check the top of the tower?"

Onyx furrowed her brow in confusion. "Why would they?"

"Think about it. The magic around here runs through crystals, it runs through the ground. The best place to hide the Heart is as far up high as you can. Every faerie tale we know, princesses and treasures are hidden at the top of the highest tower. That's the first place you check."

Onyx stared at her blankly for a second. "Umm, just a friendly reminder: we've been gone for a millennium. Your faerie tales, our news."

"I know," Berry said as they rushed towards the Palace. "But Twilight and her friends, they ought to know better. Rainbow Dash is a lot of things, but she's not a complete idiot. She should've done a flyby. Heck, slap some wings on that damn unicorn and she'd have done a flyby. It's not like them to mess up on something that big."

"It might be King Sombra's magic. He did have a way to make ponies forget, or not realise what was there. I didn't even know there were statues in our streets, remember? At least the children are safe."

Time slowed down as Berry saw a movement near the balcony in the distance. "Onyx?"

"What?"

Berryshine's eyes fell on a shape dangling among the crystals underneath the arch, right next to the one under the balcony, barely out of sight of the Elements and the crowds. Her pace quickened. "Look there, under the arch."

"Where?"

"Right there! Don't you see it?" Berry pointed to the thing. It was well-hidden with all the surrounding outgrowths, but with the ground shaking like it did there was a very obvious swinging shape there, like a pendulum.

Onyx’ eyes went wide as she gasped. "Oh, stars. He strung her up. That monster, he strung her up."

Sure enough, hidden amidst the crystals of the Palace, there hung one last statue, attached at the tail by a rope that was painted blue to make it blend in better.

Berry panted as she ran for all she was worth. She felt, rather than heard, the roar of King Sombra as he dove into the ground and rode a corrupted black crystal. Spike was cornered, he was surely going to fall.

Berry forced herself not to think about it. Spike was a tough kid, he'd lain waste to Ponyville once, he'd probably spontaneously sprout wings if he had to. Berry was only concerned for the filly. "Who is she?"

"That's Princess Skyla, the heir to the throne. I thought Sombra killed her along with her parents. We all thought she was dead."

Sombra's pillar of black crystal rose up towards Spike. Berry and Onyx stopped once they were right under the princess' remains, in front of the arch. The crowd didn’t notice them; too busy yelling at the supposed heroes of Equestria.

"What do we do? I can't fly," Berryshine said. “We’d better call Rainbow-”

Everything happened so fast then. Spike fell, Crystal Heart clutched in his little claws. Sombra drove the black pillar he was on towards the falling dragon, eyes on his prize.

Something large and pink swooped past to catch the little guy and drop him in the center of the tower, too far from the arch for Berry to cry out.

A voice, calm and collected, but powerful, spoke through everypony's hearts.

"The Crystal Heart has returned. Use the light and love within you to ensure that King Sombra does not."

Berry looked up. "No. Onyx..."

Onyx didn't hear. She bowed to Princess Cadence and the Crystal Heart, as did all the Crystal ponies, in a trance.

The Heart fired, and filled Berry with a joy and a sense of belonging.

For just a second, she saw Sombra exploding, and part of her wondered why she hadn't brought her concerns up sooner. She was right: this magic made her feel at home in the Crystal Empire, it filled her with the sense of belonging in this land and of community, but more than that, of power. There was power in the Crystal ponies, in their sense of identity and love and harmony. It was powerful magic, powerful enough to smite anything that wasn't part of the Empire.

Friends of the Empire were filled with joy. Enemies of the Empire were destroyed without a single thought or hesitation.

And it was glorious.

Every Crystal pony got their sparkle back. The realm was safe.

Berry looked up at a now pink shape dangling from above.

Snap!

The filly fell, Berry braced herself.

A dull thud, the air knocked out of her, and that strained back of hers cracking against the crystal pavement.

Something warm in her arms, something that was breathing for the first time in a thousand years.

The sound of hooves on the ground, moving away from her. No one even saw her lying there, all eyes were on Cadence and the Heart.

A sharp pain in her back, a dull throb in her head.

Then darkness.

"Ow, my back..." Berry groaned as she came to.

"Berryshine, thank goodness," Onyx said. "She's okay, everyone."

"Oh, wha... what happened?"

One of the nearby stallions extended a hoof to help her up. "That boy dragon saved our realm. We never even got a chance to ask his name."

"Spike. His name is Spike," Berry said.

"Ah. Fitting name for a hero. Short, powerful."

Berry winced and rubbed her back. Then she noticed she was see-through and sparkling. Her hair felt different, too. "I didn't die, did I?"

"Hmm? Oh, no, that's the Crystal Heart's magic. It's temporary, don't worry. It looks good on you, " Onyx remarked.

Berry was inclined to agree, though she did wonder if there wasn’t some law against changing ponies’ species without their consent. Did Crystal ponies count as a different species? With all the weird breeding pairs in Ponyville, it was hard to keep track of that sort of thing. There were also more pressing concerns to voice. "Where are all the kids?"

Onyx nodded to the farms in the distance. "They are safe, all of them. Including the ones on the pedestals. They're all being rounded up now. We didn't miss anyone.”

"Where are the Elements of Harmony?"

Onyx nodded towards the road leading to the tundra and the train station. "Leaving already, unfortunately. Princess Cadence and Prince Shining Armour are seeing them off. I don’t think they even saw us."

"And that last one?"

"I am fine, Miss. Thank you," a voice piped up behind her.

Onyx chuckled. "Berryshine, it is my pleasure to introduce: Princess Skyla, of the Crystal Empire."

Berry turned. Before her stood the tiniest and most adorable little royal she'd ever seen. A bright pink, blue-eyed, and see-through like the other Crystal ponies, Skyla stood out from the crowd by virtue of her horn and wings. Skyla was an alicorn. Berryshine had saved the life of an alicorn. "Hi there, Your Highness."

"Art thou a champion from a distant nation?" The little one asked.

Berry caught herself staring at the girl, but that didn't do anything to stop her. "No. Just a regular commoner mare from the country right below this one."

The girl smiled. "Then we are pleased to have awoken to an age where heroism such as yours is common."

Berryshine tried to get up, but the stinging in the middle of her back wouldn't relent. She could barely feel her legs. "Ah, I think I overdid it a little bit."

"We shall have to see to your treatment," Skyla said.

"That can wait, there's still some stuff to work out. There's another Princess here, and a Prince, Your Highness. Someone's going to have to take care of the place."

"Let the Equestrian pair do it, if they wish," Skyla said. "We can work out the specifics of succession when I come of age.”

"Speaking of which, Berryshine," Onyx whispered, "I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell anypony there was another Crystal Princess."

"Oh?"

"I believe what my loyal subject is trying to say, is: we have been gone for a long time. We have lost much, and it will take a new ruler to set things in order. I can only assume the ponies here all agree that it should be Cadence to take the throne, at least for now?"

All of the Crystal ponies nodded.

What a day this was for Berryshine. There she was, witness to a peaceful resolution of what could have been a very bloody -- but no doubt elegant and adorable -- battle over succession, mere minutes after seeing an ancient tyrant be obliterated by the Magic of Nationalism.

Not only that, but she’d taken a good dose of that magic herself, enough to make her look like a native.

Apparently nationalism beams were the natural precursor to rainbow lasers in terms of military advances. Thinking on it, she wasn't all too surprised, really, it explained a lot.

"Your secret is safe with me, Princess Skyla."

"Thank you, Berryshine. Now, the spa treatment."

"I really don't need any treatment, Your Highness, in fact, I shouldn't even be here. I was just on my way to take a holiday break."

"Good. You can take it with us, then. Though I fear we still have rebuilding to do, I'm sure we can spare some pony power to see to your back injury."

"There's really no need, honestly, I'll just be off and-"

"Excuse me?"

Berry froze, partly because of the sharp pain shooting through her neck and back, partly because of the sheer depth of the voice speaking. It was warm, and carried with it the vague sense of a rumbling thunder.

"Rudolph the Red, always a pleasure." Skyla trotted up to what turned out to be a monumental reindeer buck and threw her arms over his neck.

"Princess Skyla, it's been too long. My deepest condolences for thine family. We did all we could, I swear."

"I know, Rudolph, I know. Father told me about Sombra's transgressions into your lands. Still, good to see a familiar face at last. How has the world been in our absence?"

"Not a lot of news, honestly. The demons have been driven back, Discord went mad with power, oh, and there are some new Princesses in charge of the Epona colonies, I think you might have caught a glimpse of them by now. Celestia and Luna, they're called. Lovely ladies, both of them, though between you and me, Luna has a bit of a temper sometimes."

Berry wasn't sure what to make of this. Honestly, she felt that she ought to know who this Rudolph character was, and why he was called 'the Red' if not a single part of his coat was ginger. Not only that, but he was older than Luna and Celestia? And Skyla was already showing signs of authority, when she couldn’t have been older than Onyx’s daughter.

If only she'd known who these characters were, she might have been less confused and more impressed.

Seemed to be a recurring theme today.

"I have not seen them yet, no," Skyla replied.

"Ah, you will. And in the meantime, if there is anything I or my reindeer brethren can do for your Empire, you need only ask. We are ever loyal to the Crystal ponies."

"Thank you. And, actually, there is one favour I should like to ask at the moment."

"Name it, Your Highness."

Skyla gestured towards Berry. "This is Miss Berryshine. She helped save the children of our beloved Empire, including myself."

Rudolph looked down at the mare. His deep, dark eyes stared into her very soul, like he’d been plucked straight out of one of the naughty romance books Twilight Sparkle liked to pretend her library didn’t have. "Really? Strange, I thought I knew all the Elements of Harmony. I distinctly recall the pink one having a lighter coat, and different hair."

Berry cowered under the titanic buck's gaze. "I'm not an Element, Your Highness, sir. I just got on the wrong train."

Rudolph hrmmed. "I see. Might I inquire where the right train was heading?"

"S-Santa Fell?"

"Say no more. Knights?"

Berry found herself flanked by two burly bucks with shaggy coats and giant antlers, and both adorned with armour that looked like it had come right from the Royal Guard.

"Ah, careful, careful." Berry winced in pain.

Then she felt their touch. Split hooves, with little edges to better press into her flesh, and a soothing, glowing warmth that flowed through her fur and into her muscles.

"My knights are all trained in the healing arts, Miss Berry. You sit back now, and we shall accommodate you as befits a friend to the royal family of the Crystal Empire."

Berryshine was in heaven as she was lifted onto a stretcher, her saddlebag with drinks set beside her, and shortly after she was literally in heaven, carted away by the flying reindeer with Rudolph the Red flying beside her.

She barely heard Onyx say she'd come visit her in Santa Fell. Fatigue was starting to catch up with her.

"Whu-what time is it? The sun's still up so high, but the day's been so..."

"Arctic North, Miss Berryshine," Rudolph said. "You caught us in a long day."

"Right... a really, really long day. I’ve got so many things to ask, so much that needs doing."

"Rest up, and worry not about your questions or your duties, we shall make every arrangement. When you wake, you shall be tended to and pampered as you deserve. A friend of the Empire is a friend to reindeer."

Berry did just as she was told.

After all, she was on a holiday now.

And after a day like that, no one would deny that she deserved it.

The end.

Author's Note

Well, that's the end of that. Like a few of my other stories, this tried to capture the look and feel of the original episode, which includes some of its faults. The sudden ending, a lot of questions raised but not really answered, the main character just breathing a sigh of relief, that's all part of the design.

Not sure what to make of the lukewarm reception, but I guess that's what happens when you write out of your comfort zone and only upload to two groups.

Oh well, still a fun little fic to do. Hope you enjoyed it.

P.S.: I don't know if I've ever mentioned this, but the book that got me into reading in English (and, by extension, writing fanfics) is a little something called 'I, Jedi'. Just throwin' that out there for a little perspective, might explain a few things ^^

The Wrong Train

It's amazing how the tiniest of details can make a great day turn sour.

Take Berryshine, for example. A Ponyville mare of some repute, she was one of the few Earth ponies who could compete with unicorns in that most select and noble of aristocratic unicorn pastimes: wine tasting. She was also one of only three Earth ponies who could keep up with pegasi in the most ancient of frequent flyer frivolities: the ceremonial emptying of the beer keg.

Truly, among her own kind, Berryshine was known for three things: her fine brewing skills, her uncanny down-to-Earth insights into pony society, and her liver, which scholars debated was either sick to its core and about to fail, or indestructible and healthier than even Celestia's.

Not that her drinking habits showed, of course. The young mare had a well-groomed plum coat, an immaculate raspberry pink mane and tail done up in the usual country pony comb style, fandango eyes that never showed signs of bleariness, and a cutie mark of a bunch of grapes and a strawberry, rather than a wineglass, which was what most ponies associated her with. Truth be told, Berryshine was good at drinking. Being good at drinking, in her case, also meant she had enough common sense to not do it too frequently, or publicly, for that matter. After all, she also served exotic juice mixes for children. It wouldn't do to be known as a drunk in that market.

But try telling that to a town full of gossips and drama queens. It didn't help that she was known as a bit of a grump. Indeed, Berry had the patience of an angel. The only point of contention was whether said angel came from the heavens or Tartarus. Brewing for a living did that to her sometimes: having to wait for the spirits to ripen properly, having to contend with proud farmers on one hoof and even more proud snobs on the other, it took its toll on her normally saintly patience. Still, ponies were a forgiving lot, and Ponyville ponies doubly so. They just ended up wearing each other down in the process.

Today was a welcome reprieve for the mare: the first full day of Spring, sampling day. Get up at six, pack up drinks, take the train to Canterlot, get there by seven thirty, talk to the teachers at Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, and take their orders for juice and hard liquor. She'd expanded her catalogue since last semester: she now not only carried drinks labelled 'No Heavy Machinery" and ones labelled 'No Pregnancies', but her latest creations came with the warning 'No Impregnating Heavy Machinery'.

She didn't question the fact that a bunch of ponies teaching young unicorns needed a stiff drink at the end of the day, she just took their business and their orders.

Berryshine sighed in relief once she was out. She had the orders, she could get to work soon enough.

But first, a break.

She trotted along Marble Lane towards Canterlot North, hoping to catch the next train to... well, anywhere would do. It was always something in Ponyville, really: disasters and drama and vigilantes and, as much as Berry hated to contemplate it, good ponies who got silly ideas into their heads and made life difficult for the rest of them. Berryshine had snapped a few times herself, to her shame. She just needed to go somewhere that wasn't Ponyville, just for a few days, clear her head before getting back to work. The teachers had enough alcohol to help them survive another week or two, after all.

Berry stopped in the middle of the train station and stared at the screens showing the train arrivals and departures. A holiday would do her a world of good. She had enough money with her to pay for the trip and it's not like she needed to bring anything, aside from maybe a toothbrush, and even that she could just buy when she got to her destination. The only question now was: where to go? Baltimare? The food was okay, but the ponies all talked funny. Las Pegasus? She'd been there twice already: once she'd ended up married to her mailmare, the other time she'd ended up ordained as a priest and married said mailmare to some silly pony dressed as Daring Do.

So Las Pegasus was out, as was Baltimare. Manehattan, then? Definitely not; too crowded, and this soon after Winter Wrap-Up she really didn't want to go anywhere near any place that featured musical numbers. There really wasn't any place in Equestria she wanted to visit on a whim, no place to relax. There would always be ponies there, familiar faces, and the drama that would follow them.

But then one final option presented itself: Santa Fell.

Santa Fell, she'd heard about that place before. Great mountain resort location, way up North, and with it being a reindeer city there wouldn't be that much singing. Low chance of ponies, low chance of drama. The more she thought about it, the more she wanted it. Spring was starting, and a casual glance towards track number 5 told her that most ponies would be coming back from a skiing trip now, not going on one. It was perfect. A couple of days just when the off season was starting, when prices would be down a bit but all the services would be available for at least two more weeks, just the ticket. She could check into one of the famous reindeer rejuvenation spas for a day or two, go to a sauna.

She could get a massage from one of those handsome bucks with gigantic antlers and shaggy chest fur and... split hooves. Berry had never had a massage from anything with split hooves before. It sounded very practical for the purpose. A trip up North was just what she needed.

"One ticket to Santa Fell, please," she asked the pony at the register.

"A little late for a skiing holiday, aren'tcha?" The pony quirked an eyebrow.

"I won't be skiing. One, please."

"Suit yourself."

And suit her, it would. Once the train arriving from the North had emptied of ski tourists, Berry strode confidently into the train wagon, plopped her rump down on a seat, and curled up to take a nap. If she'd read the timetables right, the train would leave in ten minutes and arrive in reindeer lands in two and a half hours. Berryshine patted the saddlebag with her drinks in it. Maybe she could offer some samples at a spa, too, make some new connections while she relaxed. She just needed to unwind in a new place, that's all, expand her horizons. She could almost feel the heat of the sauna, and the gentle prodding of a buff reindeer masseur...

The train came to a screeching halt. Berryshine gave herself a few seconds to come to, stretched out, then trotted outside into the snowy plains of Santa Fell. The snowy, empty plains of Santa Fell. Visibility was limited, sure, but she'd expected to be able to see a minimum of civilisation, at least. Reindeer customs aside, the train station should be bigger than just the one shack she was faced with. She walked around the place to see if maybe she'd gotten off on the wrong side of the station, but it didn't look like it. Santa Fell was a desolate place, not at all the bustling reindeer town she'd hoped for.

"Huh, that's weird. Isn't there supposed to be a town here?"

Even at the short distance she'd gone from the station, the train was barely visible. She heard it leaving, though. In front of her, further along a non-existent path in the snow, she saw two figures moving.

"Excuse me!" she called out.

The figures stopped.

"Hi there, sorry to disturb you, but where are all the reindeer? This is Santa Fell, right?"

As she got closer, she realised her mistake. She hadn't counted on meeting two royal ponies out here.

"Princess Cadance, Prince Shining Armour." Berryshine bowed before the two once she was in range. "I'm sorry, I didn't know it was you."

Shining armour raised what looked like a wooden mask from his face. "That's okay, there's no need for that kind of thing out here. What are you doing here? You're Berry... Punch, right? One of Twily's friends from Ponyville?"

"Err, I wouldn't say we're friends, exactly. She does come by the shop, sometimes." Berry felt it prudent at this point to neglect to enlighten Prince Shining Armour in the drinking habits of his precious little sister. After all, Twilight Sparkle was a Canterlot pony, living in Ponyville, with a dragon, who was also a baby dragon to boot. If none of the above was enough reason to need some alcohol every now and then, nothing was.

"Well, Miss Punch, I'm sorry for the inconvenience, but no, you're not in Santa Fell. Princess Celestia sent me and my husband on an urgent mission. The train took a detour, you're in the High North of Equestria. Aren't you cold?" Cadence asked.

Berry took out a tiny gourd of liquor from her saddlebag and took a good swig of it. "I have ways to keep warm, thank you. And it's Berryshine, actually, 'Punch' is more of a... well, you know how ponies are with names.

Cadence chuckled. "Oh, I do. I keep seeing my name spelled with two 'a's myself. Maybe it's because I look Belgian."

"Listen, Berry, I hate to be rude, but you're not supposed to be here. We're on a mission from Princess Celestia," Shining interrupted.

Berry chuckled nervously. "Oh, of course, my mistake. When's the next train to Santa Fell?"

"There isn't one," Shining said. "Out here, there's just the one that goes to and from Canterlot, and stops along a military base a few miles west of here. Other than that, it's pretty desolate. We had to request a detour, we didn't think anyone was heading for Santa Fell this time of year."

"Oh, that's fine. When's the next train to Canterlot, then?"

"Err, umm..." Shining muttered something under his breath.

"Excuse me?"

"There's only one train looping back to Canterlot today, it won't arrive until nightfall," Cadence said. "And we're not letting you try to walk to the military base on your own, either. I won't allow it, it's too dangerous."

"Really? Then what am I supposed to do?"

Shining Armour looked to his wife, then sighed. "I guess you're going to have to tag along with us, Berry. Just stay close and stay behind me until we get to civilisation."

"I thought you said this place was desolate?"

Shining Armour led the way over the frozen plains. He cast a glance to Cadence, who took the hint.

"Well, it is, mostly. That is, it used to be completely desolate. We were sent here because something has appeared."

Berry gulped. Usually, if someone in Ponyville referred to a 'something,' they were really referring to a 'something big,' a 'something dangerous,' or a 'something to run away from, fast.' Or, as had happened more frequently since the new librarian had moved in, a mix of the three. "And when you say 'something', you mean..."

"A place," Cadence answered. "A city state that hasn't been seen for a thousand years."

Berry breathed a private sigh of relief. A city state was a big something, sure, but it sounded neither dangerous nor worth running away from, fast.

"It's called the Crystal Empire," Shining Armour said. "There are crystals there that hold a magic charge and spread it all over the world, that's why it's just the two of us Celestia sent. We don't know if the crystals are stable or not. If the Empire is filled with love and harmony, that's reflected all over Equestria. If darkness or fear take hold, well... you get the idea. If we send too many soldiers before stabilising the place, we might set off a chain reaction that can blow up a chunk of the world."

Berryshine didn't like the sound of that one bit. She rather liked the world as it was, and she certainly didn't want any poor buff, split-hooved reindeer to be blown up before she got that massage she wanted. "Okay. So it's just a recon mission, then. Go into the Empire, see if some little crystals are charged, go back and get a bigger army?"

"No," Cadence replied. "It's not just some small crystals, it's what the whole place is made of. Me and Shining have to secure the entire Empire. The inhabitants of the realm, they... they used to have a magic that's close to mine, that's why Celestia sent me. You were there when those changelings attacked, right?"

"Yup. Scary stuff."

"Well, the sort of magic we used there, we have to use again. Just, you know, bigger." Cadence kept up her friendly smile.

"Huh. Wow, so this place has been gone for a thousand years? And the inhabitants..."

"Crystal ponies," Shining Armour said. "They're like us, but their magic runs deeper, so they react the same way crystals do. If their land isn't charged with, well, love, then the ponies themselves suffer. And we're pretty sure they all disappeared and reappeared with the Empire, too."

Berry felt a knot form in her stomach. "Gosh. Ponies have been gone for a thousand years? And now they're back, just like that?"

"Just like that."

Berry was running out of words to express her surprise and found herself resorting to some Canterlot terms instead. "Goodness. Do you know why?"

Shining grumbled.

"We think it might have a little something to do with the wave of love magic at our wedding. It did reach pretty far," Cadence noted.

"No, I mean, why did the Crystal Empire disappear in the first place?"

As if on cue, the ice began to rumble. The three stopped.

"Shining?" Cadence asked.

"I hear it. I don't suppose Celestia told you how to fight this thing?"

"No!"

"Me neither." Shining groaned.

Cracks appeared beneath the snow and ice. The rumbling became a violent quake that nearly knocked the threesome off their hooves.

Then, as abruptly as it has started, it stopped. Whatever pressure had built up underground was released.

And it came in the form of a tar-like shadow, erupting from the ice like a dark geyser.

"Cryssss...tals..." The dark shadow roared. The wind kicked up as the dark matter bubbled and churned and formed tendrils that lashed out at the ponies. The shadow wasn't titanic in size, by any means, but a dark and roaring shadow only twice as high as a pony was still something to be scared of.

"Cut it!" Cadence shot out a pink ray from her horn that exploded harmlessly against the blackness. Shining fired off a shot of his own, but the blue bolt didn't cause any more damage than his wife's had.

The shadow let off an angry hiss and lunged, shooting out those dark tendrils.

"Shield!" Shining was the first to block the blow, but he couldn't drive them back.

"Vaporise it!" Cadence growled and let off another blast, this one pink with sparkles trailing from it.

And apparently, while their enemy had no problem with pink blasts, it didn't like any sparkling added to the blasts, because it made a point of dodging this attack, all three of the shots.

"I can't get a shot," Cadence said. "This thing's quick."

Shining backed away as more of the blackness seeped out of the crack in the ground. "It's getting bigger, too. We're going to get surrounded at this rate."

"Freeze ray?"

"Freeze ray."

"Freeze ray!" Both of them reared up and let loose a blizzard from their horns, that pushed and shoved against the blackness but still did nothing to shrink it.

"Okay, that slowed it down. Now we just-"

"Grenade!"

The two royal ponies looked at each other quizzically. "Grenade?"

Shining Armour had learned a long time ago that cool ponies do not look at explosions.

Unfortunately, he had never quite managed being a cool pony, and frequently ended up looking into flashes of light and explosions. This one was about a seven on the Shining Armour Scale of Retinal Damage: higher than the time Twily had found out Shining had put Smarty Pants out in the open to get her to go out and socialise, but lower than the time he'd told her not to worry about her exam, because it was 'just a test.'

The shadow still managed to dodge the brunt of the impact, but it didn't dodge the infernal blaze that followed, turning it into an impressive bonfire that could be seen for miles. With a screeching bellow, the thing seeped back into the snow, retreating to heal, no doubt.

"Huh?" Shining Armour quirked an eyebrow at the thing as it beat a hasty retreat. He stealthily cast a healing spell on his eyes, as had become a routine since childhood. "Why did you just yell 'grenade'?"

Berry smiled sheepishly. "I thought we were calling out attacks?"

"Me and Cadence were, sure, but that's just for coordinating. You're not supposed to yell out what you're doing before you do it for no reason, it's kind of silly."

"I think what my husband is trying to say is: thank you for your assistance. But if you don't mind my asking, was that a real grenade you just threw?" Cadence asked.

"Err, it was a flask of grenadine," Berry replied. "Does that count?"

"That must be some grenadine," Shining Armour said, inspecting the hole the thing had escaped into. It was still smouldering and everything.

"My great-aunt Molly's special zap apple recipe. She was in the Royal Guard, too, actually."

"Oh. Right, of course, you're related to General Tov, now I remember." Shining slapped himself for forgetting.

"Yup, that's me." Berry chuckled nervously. "Hope I wasn't out of line there."

"No, no, it's fine, thank you, Berry. The grenade helped," Cadence said.

"Right, um, we should probably keep going. There's no telling when that thing decides to get back up," Shining went off again, using his horn to light the way.

Berry trotted behind the pair, still trying to see through the snow. "That's it? No need to find out what that was?"

"That was probably the thing that made the Crystal Empire disappear a thousand years ago," Cadence said. "Its name is Sombra, and it used to be a unicorn king. He killed the royal family of the Empire, and made slaves out of the Crystal ponies."

"Really? It didn't even have a face. It didn't even have eyes. You're seriously saying that thing was a unicorn?"

"Used to be," Cadence replied. "He put a lot of his power into corrupting the crystals of the Empire. He was supposed to be banished into shadow by Princess Celestia and Luna. That's what they told us. Even used the Elements of Harmony to do it."

Berry's Common Sense was tingling at that. "Wouldn't turning an evil magical dictator into a shadow end up making him harder to hit, and, you know, stronger?"

"It's magic terminology, you'd have to be a unicorn to understand. No offense," Shining said.

"None taken. So this Somber guy..."

"Sombra."

"Sombra, okay. So this Sombra guy... 'corrupted' the Empire? What's that supposed to mean?"

Woosh.

The shift in the air was so drastic they could taste it. From one step to another, they were out of the snow and in a city, or at least crystals that used to be a city. The crystal stuff was everywhere, but all of it tainted. The streets were a muddy brown, the houses reduced to monoliths with tiny windows carved out, and all of it in the same dark, drab colours and with the same dull waxy shine, instead of the vibrant glass shine that was obviously supposed to be there. Even the way the things were set up was all wrong. All over, jagged black crystals rose up from the ground like weeds. Upon closer inspection, the weed-like crystals were the only things that had any real shine to them, as if to rub in the danger of cutting a hoof on them. And every block, there was a watchtower: crude metal shacks on wooden scaffolding, each adorned with crystal horns to look even more menacing. Up above, the sky looked calm, but the same sickly brown tinge hung over it. Black clouds hung over the Empire, circling around a central tower like vultures spotting their next meal.

Berryshine risked taking a breath and found the air not only dry, but warm, a lot warmer than it had any right to be in the Arctic. They'd passed some sort of barrier protecting the Empire from the elements outside, she realised, it kept the snow out along with the cold and noise. The silence was maddening after the blizzard they'd walked through.

Shining gulped. No one said it, but they all thought it. They hadn't entered a city, but a slave camp. The only things missing were the chains and the slaves.

"Umm... I guess it means this," Shining said.

"Sorry I asked."

"It's okay, really," Cadence replied. "There's a reason we usually keep this sort of thing away from civilians."

"So we didn't take a wrong turn anywhere? This is really..." Berry asked.

"The corrupted Crystal Empire, yes," Shining replied. "And that thing back there was the one who corrupted it, probably trying to pull himself back together, too."

"He can do that?"

"The way I understand it, Sombra was experimenting with making himself immortal. He ended up as something that wasn't quite solid, but wasn't a full ghost, either. Celestia and Luna managed to defeat his physical form, but the ghostly form obviously survived." Cadence sniffed the air and coughed. "It's dusty here."

"Careful." Shining Armour cast a bubble around the three. "You don't know what might be lingering in the air around here."

Berry felt the hairs on her neck stand on end just from the sight of the place. "So, umm, I take it you two just... walk up somewhere and purify the place?"

"That's the plan," Cadence replied. "If I had to guess, we'll need to get to the centre of the snowflake."

"What snowflake?" Shining Armour furrowed his brow.

"Didn't Aunt Celestia show you the map? This city is built on a snowflake pattern. All the roads, all the power nodes lead to that tower over there." Cadence pointed to the central structure in the distance, the one the clouds were circling around. It was a sharp needle jabbing straight into the sky, with several more pointy things poking from it. And like most of the decorations around, it had 'dark and evil' written all over it.

"I take it you mean that Gigantic Dark Tower of Doom in the middle, there?" Berry asked.

"I've seen worse," Cadence said.

"Really?"

"Griphon post-modernist architecture." Shining gagged. "Don't ask."

"Come on." Cadence took a confident step forward, and Shining followed with his barrier still in place, leaving Berry to tag along. "We'd better hurry."

Their march to the tower was uneventful, mostly. Cadence and Shining Armour were unperturbed by the trip, just putting one hoof after the other on the crystal streets of the former Empire. Berryshine, however, was finding her normally legendary constitution tested. Every step they took echoed endlessly over crystals streets and crystal walls, an every so often she'd catch a motion in the corner of her eye. The whole thing made her stomach turn, a feat not many things in Equestria could perform.

"Gah!" The convoy stopped with Cadence's squeal.

"We submit."

Berry barely had time to register what was going on. Three ponies had appeared out of nowhere and were now bowing before them.

Cadence nodded to her husband, who made the barrier big enough to encompass the three Crystal ponies, as well. Berry could see why they were called Crystal ponies now: their coats looked like they weren't so much made of fur, but like the hairs had grown together to form one big, glossy skin around them. Their manes and tails, likewise, were definitely more solid than composed of different strands, more of a singular entity than any normal pony's was.

The scary part was their colours, though. They looked like clothes that had been washed too often, like the very life had been drowned out by some sinister influence. The mare on the left was a vague yellow with a orange-ish grey mane and tail, the stallion in the center was blue, presumably a dark blue before whatever had happened to him, and he had a white mane and tail. The mare on the right was, Berry hoped, a natural grey, and while her mane was almost white it had the tiniest hint of blonde.

Golden Harvest, Pokey Pierce, Derpy Hooves. The faces were eerily similar, the colour schemes matched, but the styles didn't, not really. Their manes and tails were deflated, almost, or limp, if that was even possible for hair. But they looked like her neighbours from Ponyville, aside from that and the obvious difference in body parts. Berry wondered if Crystal ponies were all just a variety of Earth ponies, or if there was such a thing as a Crystal pegasus.

"Hi there. I'm Princess Cadence, this is my husband, Shining Armour, and our companion, Berryshine."

Berry waved meekly. "Hi."

"Do you know where you are? Can you tell me what happened here?" Cadence asked.

"We submit."

Shining put a hoof under the blue one's chin so he could look it in the eyes. He shook his head. "I don't think they can hear you. They're in some sort of trance."

"Can you help them?" Berry asked.

Cadence sighed. "It's this place. Sombra must have put parts of his soul into the land, so they're still being bombarded with enslaving magic. This whole city breathes oppression. If we try to break the spell on them like this, they'll snap back in seconds. Besides, I don't know what might happen if I tried my magic directly on a Crystal pony. For all I know, that might kill them. They're linked to the land, that's where they get their power from. The ground is what needs to cleansed, we know that's safe. We need to purify the city, put up a barrier."

"We submit..." The Crystal ponies held their heads low.

Berry rummaged through her pack. "Well, what can I do to help? Is it okay to feed them?"

Cadence and Shining stared at her for a moment.

"What?"

Shining shook his head, then shrugged. "If you think you should, I'm sure they'll appreciate it once they wake up. But right now we should get going. We can help them better when we get to the tower."

Berry sighed. "Okay, if you say so, Your Highness."

So there she was, not in reindeer lands but in the ancient Crystal Empire, tagging along with Prince Shining Armour and Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, or Cadance with two 'a's and one 'e', or one 'a' and two 'e's, whichever it was. And instead of getting caught up in pony town drama, she was now caught up in a royal mission with two royals she hardly knew anything about.

This is going to be a long day...

Author's Note

So, this is me trying to get out of a writing slump. First story I've written in TeX first, not Google Docs, so there may be some technical issues with it. In terms of writing style, yeah, you can expect this to be mostly 'stuff it, I'm writing however I like'.

If you don't get the Belgian Cadence joke, you won't get it after it's explained, either. I have all three books of Magic: the Gathering's Odyssey Cycle. That kinda made me immune to the whole 'spell the name like canon' thing. If Hasbro can't be bothered, I'll at least poke fun at it.

As for the reindeer stuff... there's lots of references to things I might write, but probably won't, because it involves reindeer (or caribou, depending on where you're from) and my own brand of body horror, visited on *yawn* Scootaloo. I don't know why, but I always end up making up kids the victim. Anyhoot, might write that in the distant future, probably won't. It depends on how much of a dark mood I can get myself in, really. Those who've followed past blogs will know what I'm talking about.

More to come soon, and most of the personal stuff, if it needs to be covered, will be covered in blogs.

Oh, you want to know more about the story? Expect the usual amounts of headcanon, mostly stuff that, in hindsight, was really missing from the original episodes.