Memories of Happier Times
tap
tap
tap
Each time his hoof came down, there was a tiny little tap. A single moment in time marked by a little sound that seemed to echo endlessly in the dungeon. The crystal was too hard to chip or scratch, or else he might have marked time another way. As it was, he was doing his best to mark the seconds that passed. It was simply a way of tracking the passage of time.
Now that there was time to keep track of again anyway. It had been a little more than a week since time had resumed. He knew because at noon each day the sun filtered through the cracks in the crystalline walls for a moment and the light flashed in his cell. It had been nine days since time had returned to the Crystal Empire. It had been three days since the strange flash of light had passed through him, leaving him translucent and shimmering.
It had been ten minutes since he could first hear the sound of hooves echoing through the dungeon halls. Against his will he winced as they came closer.
360...361....362.... he's going to want an accurate count.... 364....
Tap Tap Tap
The door to his cell swung open quietly and three guards looked in on him. There was a since of shock about them, something he hadn't expected.
"Go get a medic," one said. "I think the doctor is going to need to see this one."
The doctor looked worriedly at the stallion laying in bed before him. When he came into the hospital the pony appeared to be malnourished and suffering from sleep deprivation. It didn't take long for Hawk Eye to notice and recognize the other wounds though. There were subtle bulges in the wrong places, signs of bones that had not set properly after being broken. Thin lines marred the pony's white coat, hinting at scars too numerous to count. Hawk Eye had been a field medic for the Equestrian Guard for decades, and had never encountered a soldier who had suffered this kind of abuse.
"Are you feeling better?" a nurse asked.
"Yes, Nurse Rose Quartz." the pony answered. He had answered everypony so far by name, save for the few non-crystal ponies working at the field hospital. An odd thing since some of the ponies had not fully recovered their memories even with the king's defeat and the crystal heart's aid.
"Good." She said with a smile "Be sure to get plenty of bed rest and lots of fluids."
"I shall remember." That was another odd thing he said. He'd said it anytime he was told anything.
Clearing his throat, Hawk Eye brought the pony's attention round to him. "Well, I'm a little concerned about some of your older injuries but you seem fit enough at the moment. I'm going to release you, but I want you to come in in three weeks for a check up, understand?"
"Of course Doctor Hawk Eye." He said, nodding. "I am ready to serve King Sombra now if needed."
The other crystal ponies cringed at that name, unsurprising from all the harm that had been done to them. "You don't need to worry about Sombra, he was defeated."
The pony sighed and smiled a sad smile. "As you say doctor, but such a claim has been made before. "
"It's true." One of the nurses said, "Captian Shining Armor and his wife Princess Mi Amore Cradenza returned the crystal heart and banished him."
"Captian Shining Armor and Princess Mi Amore Cradenza?" the pony asked, looking to the doctor for confirmation. Hawk Eye nodded. "I shall remember that. Please let King Sombra know I am well enough to serve now."
Hawk Eye frowned, nodded to the nurses and left. If this pony had been fooled by Sombra before, he might not believe the old kings defeat from anyone but an Alicorn Princess.
Princess Cadence looked at the strange lightly colored pony who bowed low before the throne. Her husband stood at her side, whispering that the their visitor had waited patiently for over three hours to see her.
"Princess, your recordatorio is at your service." He said,
"I see." Princess Cadence said "I'm not sure I've ever heard of your title before mister...?
"Ligero." he said, standing. "I am happy to serve for you until King Sombra returns." The crystal ponies in court shuffled at the king's name.
"Ligero, I thought my husband Shining Armor had told you Sombra is gone. He isn't coming back."
"Yes, I remember him saying that." Ligero nodded towards where Shining stood beside the throne. "Honestly it is cruel of you to taunt me like this, but I shall remember it."
"What is a recordatorio?" Shining asked, trying to pull the conversation away from King Sombra.
"A sort of historian." Ligero said. "Somepony who's job is to remember."
"Really?" Cadence asked, leaning forward in the throne. "I was under the impression that King Sombra's powers distorted or destroyed the memories of everypony in the empire."
"I am immune to that aspect of King Sombra's power." Ligero responded. "The king rightly punished me for my insolence. He then gave me my title, telling me that if I could not forget, it would be my job to remember."
"And you remember, what, everything?" Shining Armor asked.
"You may test me."
One of the crystal ponies stepped forward. "Alright, tell me something."
Ligero looked the pony over for a few moments. "You are Yellow Diamond."
"You could have guessed that from my Cutie Mark." Yellow Diamond said, waving at her flank. "Do you remember anything else about me?"
Ligero paused for a long time. "Your had a sister named Blue Diamond."
"I did?" Yellow asked, a strange look of recollection coming over her features. "I DID! BLUE! HOW DID I FORGET ABOUT BLUE? Quick, where is she? Where did you see her last?"
"I- I am uncertain as to where she is now, but I saw her last out on the southern castle ramparts. I am sorry." Ligero said.
"Sorry?" Yellow asked.
"She was hanging by a noose with the other six in her rebellion." Ligero said. "King Sombra felt he should make an example of them. This was only a few weeks before time ceased."
Yellow fell to her knees in shock. "But.. but blue... she..."
Cadence stepped down from her throne and wrapped the sobbing pony in her wings. "We are sorry Yellow," The princess whispered, consoling her.
"Do you have further use for me?" Ligero asked.
"No, not at the moment." Shining Armor said. "Do you have a place to live at the moment?"
"I was directed to some currently vacant housing nearby."
"Leave the address with a guard." Shining said. "We may need your help repairing our records, and others may want to know whatever you know."
Ligero nodded and turned to leave.
"One last question." Cadence said, looking up from Yellow Diamond. "Why were you immune to the memory spells when nopony else seems to be?"
Ligero turned around. "I have a few theories but the simplest one is this." He reached up a hoof and parted his mane on his head. "There are very few crystal unicorns in the empire.
Shining felt sickened at the sight and Cadence visibly paled. The ruined stump of a horn was hidden beneath Ligero's long mane. The cracks and chips showed that the horn was not merely cut or broken but shattered. It was likely that the horn would never regrow and that Ligero could never again use magic.
After a few moments, the battered and wounded unicorn lowered his hoof, turned and left.
Three weeks had passed since that day in court, and Ligero was beginning to grudgingly accept that King Sombra was really gone. Ponies had heard of his memory and more than a few had come by to beg or barter for memories. He had attained an fair amount of money, as well as a few bruises from unhappy memories. Those who couldn't pay in bits paid in food or services, though not all of them were services he desired.
He huffed at one such service as he left his home. Above the door was a sight that was beginning to really annoy him.
Ligero
Professional Recordatorio
We can remember it for you wholesale
Princess Cadence and Prince Shining Armor had only called on him a couple of times, once to get a list of ponies he knew of and once to check on him after he helped a particularly gruff pony remember things he did not wish to. His ribs still stung slightly from the last kick.
Ligero paused outside a flower shop and looked over the selection before letting out a deep sigh.
"Need help finding something?" The shop owner asked.
"Black crystal roses?" Ligerio asked hopefully. The florist frowned and shook his head.
Ligerio smiled at the shop owner and adjusted his hat. "You really don't have any?"
The florist shrugged. "Those flowers aren't very popular right now. They were supposedly his favorite, so not many ponies have been getting them."
Ligero frowned and looked at the ground. "But they are pretty. I know they are dark and have thorns but they were here long before ki- before he was." He'd caught himself in time. Most ponies flinched at the kings name, and for good reason.
"Maybe but they are a bit depressing. Ponies want happy flowers right now. Large petals, bright colors, you know." The florist waved a hoof at the rainbow of color and shapes around his shop.
"It's for somepony special. Don't you know anyone that has any?"
"Nope, no shop I can think of."
Ligero sighed. "Alright, thanks anyway." He turned and limped out. He knew at least one place he might find some, and with any luck he could do a little work too.
Prince-consort Shining Armor walked through the crystal palace, taking stock of the changes that were occurring. Everywhere he turned dark cloth and Gothic furniture was being taken down and replaced with newer, brighter, modern pieces.
Piles of the old stuff was quickly forming in the center of the grand ballroom. Ponies were pulling out the furniture they deemed "salvageable", things they could repaint or repair. Many of the paintings had been placed with care, though a sizable pile of portraits of Sombra had been flung down recklessly. A light colored crystal pony in a shabby hat was carefully sorting through the damaged paintings.
Shining wandered over and looked at the pile of mostly undamaged paintings of the dark king sitting next to the pony. The sorter continued, pulling out a portrait barely a hoof wide. Turning to set it down, he started at the sight of Shining armor and flounced into a bow.
"Y-y-y-our m-mm-magesty!" he stuttered, surprised. Shining recognized Ligerio as much from his limp and the wounds as the cutie mark.
"Stand," Shining instructed. "There is no need to bow. What are you doing here?"
"Saving a little piece of history." he said, clutching the portrait as if he was afraid Shining would take it from him.
"Saving something of Sombra's?" Shining asked, noting the way the stallion winced at the dark kings name. Few spoke it.
"Look around you, your majesty." he said. "What do you see?"
Shining looked over the piles of old furniture and nodded at a job well done. "The end of an era, the start of hope."
"Do you think king Som- the last king was the only one the empire had?" Ligerio asked. "Where are the paintings and portraits of the kings and queens of old?"
Shining looked again and saw the truth. The paintings that had come in that did not depict the dark king were landscapes or scenes of rural life. There were no paintings of nobles, no sighn of royalty.
"Sombra took our memories, but more than that, he took our history as well."
"So you would save a picture of the king to remember him by?" Shining Armor asked. "Why?"
"Because it was my job." The Ligerio said bitterly. "It was my job to remember everything, so that I could suffer with my memories the way everpony else suffered without them." He turned and looked at the pile of portriats at his hooves. "So I will remember. I will remember the terrible acts and the dark years lost to everypony else. I will remember the dark king, if only so that no others stray down his path."
Ligerio placed the smallest portrait in his saddlebags, next to a few potted roses. Shining remembered the groundskeepers asking if they could remove them from the gardens earlier.
"Captain Shining Armor," Ligerio said with a commanding voice. "King Sombra destroyed much of our history in anger and hatred. We do not need to continue his work for him. We must preserve even the ugly parts, so that we do not make the same mistakes again."
Ligerio closed the door to his home, flicking on the lights and carefully taking off his saddlebags and setting them down. "I'm home brother." He called to the empty house. "I managed to find the roses! I think I'll have to start a small garden in the back or the whole species might die out." Ligerio lifted one of the flower pots out and sat it next to a small shrine in the corner of the flat.
"You should have seen the palace today, it's starting to look a little like it did when we were young, but different too. All these modern contraptions the Equestrian's are bringing in, I feel like I'm living some science fiction story."
After putting away the rest of his shopping Ligerio finally settled down in front of the shrine. "It's beautiful out tonight. You always loved the moon and the stars, I wish you could see it." He chuckled a little. "Maybe you can, wherever you are."
"I'm going to tell them one day brother, I promise." He spoke softly to the shrine, sadly. "I'm going to tell them of the harsh winters, of the terrible shadow creatures hunting us in the night. I'm going to tell them of your bravery, your sacrifice, how you gave up your soul for the power to defend us all. I'll tell them all, make them remember who and what you were. Before the shadows in your heart took you."
Turning away from the shrine and crawling into bed, Prince Ligerio Cadenza of the Crystal Empire dreamed of chasing his dark coated brother through moonlit fields of black crystal roses while their parents sat laughing on a stone bench, cooing over his little pink niece still barely a few days old.
