Going Through the Motions
It had truly been too long.
And Luna help him, it was a week away from being over. Having taken a job in the Crystal Empire so that his family could get over their accidental magical exposure from his undiagnosed persuasion aura, Life found himself in the beauty and peace of the Crystal Capitol. The days passed in monotone, the colors of the city dulled in his mind as he slipped into his routine. The Illuminator had hired him for a reporting position that ended up eliminated within a month of him setting hoof in the city. Luckily, there was an opening in the Obituary department as curator and editor. Life worked with the chief obit editor Sweet Epitaph, a morose yet surprisingly optimistic crystal earth mare. Her obsidian coat and cloudy gray mane shimmered in the office light.
Each day had been fairly predictable since getting reassigned to Obits. Life got up, ate breakfast at one of the hooffull of inexpensive cafes in his home district, Garnet. Then he traveled towards the city center like so many other ponies, crystal and regular alike. It was said that sometimes non-Crystal ponies got their 'glow,' essentially becoming crystal versions of themselves. Life hadn't experienced that personally, although he felt that was largely due to his emotional state.
That was one thing he found most interesting in a pony-watching perspective. Crystal ponies seemed to wear their emotions on their coats. Since the restoration of the Crystal Heart, the gleaming of each Crystal Pony was a result of their emotional state. Negative emotions and sickness dimmed their glow. Happy, positive emotions made them gleam brightly. Sweet looked particularly bright, but her voice nearly always seemed flat. It had been disconcerting, almost as if she could control her glow and kept it artificially high.
Given the nature of their work, Life often wondered whether that was actually possible.
Work usually consisted of making edits to the official obituaries of notable ponies, helping copy-edit the obits that ponies sent in for their loved ones, and writing articles about the history of the city. The history articles were oddly the most work. The memories of the crystal ponies were becoming more reliable, but only slowly. It was difficult to get anything worth reporting, and the constant failures had dulled the excitement Life had felt when he started.
He'd get dinner back in the Garnet district, then return home to the small studio apartment and listen to the radio until he fell asleep. Then he'd wake up and repeat the tedium. It felt like he was just going through the motions until he returned to his former life. Nothing really seemed to catch his attention in this beautiful place.
Well, that was true until Sweet Epitaph set a file down on his desk, interrupting the peaceful drudgery. "We've just got word that Senator Luminaire of the Sapphire District passed away. The file is up to date, just double-check it and get it to Stylo's desk for his personal touches for the political column."
"May his love live on." Life intoned, the crystal pony habit now engrained in his mind.
Sweet nodded. "He was a good one. We certainly could have used his clear-headedness in these talks with the griffons. Although it seems those southern griffons will take any excuse to go to war."
Life sighed softly and thought about the last few public meetings and events Senator Luminaire had attended before his age finally caught up with him. Already an ancient pony by the time of the disappearance of the Empire, Senator Luminaire had been an exuberant and calming presence. A constant that many ponies counted on, including Princess Cadence and Shining Armor.
"Remembering the Crystal Chandelier Gala?" Sweet asked simply, one eyebrow quirked. The Gala was Life's first event as a journalist, even though he wasn't actively reporting. Senator Luminaire had commanded the admiration and respect of the ponies in the room, cracking jokes and telling stories of his daughter's exploits as a lighting director for the Canterlot Ballet Company. Lapis Luminaire had an easy charm, perfected in years of political service.
"Yeah, it was the first time I ever spoke to one of the senators. He was remarkably easy to talk to." Life smiled. "Then Stylo walked up afterwards and filled me in on exactly the caliber of pony I'd just spoken to."
Reading through the file, Life came to respect his efforts even more. The memories the Crystal Ponies had lost were returning, and as such it was an important time to document as many memories from older ponies as possible. The Obituary department was anxiously engaged in collecting these memories to tell the stories of the ponies suddenly thrust a thousand years into the future. Lapis Luminaire had been a Senator from his Sapphire home district prior to the rise of King Sombra. After Sombra seized the throne, he'd become a Resistance general. It was believed that the Resistance was close to recapturing the Crystal Heart, although memories around that time were still unclear. They had definitely struck an important blow, leading to the build-up into Sombra's decision to make the Crystal Empire disappear.
"It's too bad his daughter is out of town. I'd've liked to get her thoughts on this obituary before it goes out. I suppose she'll have her own statement later." Sweet Epitaph shrugged, then turned to go. "Say hi to Stylo for me."
Life's few edits complete, he brought the file to his old desk-mate from the fashion magazine Celerity. Stylo actually worked for another newspaper altogether, the politically-focused Crystal Capitol Clarion. His paper and Life's had a longstanding agreement that allowed Life's paper to cover Imperial social events and Stylo's paper the more robust readership numbers and reach of the political section. The Clarion mostly circulated in the central government district of Quartz. The Illuminator circulated the residential and business districts that stretched out from the center. These six districts; Amethyst, Emerald, Garnet, Ruby, Sapphire, and Zircon, and the central district each had their own representative in the Crystal Senate. As far as anypony could remember, and especially given the seating size of the Senate Floor, there had been almost three times as many districts prior to the Empire disappearing.
There were many questions still unanswered, and now one less influential pony to remember the answers. With luck, Life would be sent out to gather more information from the remaining Resistance leaders, or at least to see if they remembered anything more. That would break up some of the office boredom.
"This is the Luminaire file? It is fairly light, no?" Stylo asked as Life passed him the file in my magic. He weighed it in one hoof.
"If your reporters can find anything else, we'd be glad to hear it. Seems like all I do nowadays is take down the list of half-remembered atrocities, missing ponies, and a few good stories of the time before Som...before the city disappeared." Life stopped himself from saying Sombra's name as a group of crystal ponies walked by.
"Well, luckily Luminaire did quite a bit after the Heart was restored. Lapis will be remembered for his efforts in modernizing his beloved city, in spite of his age!" Stylo said cheerfully. "Speaking of age, I do believe that I have invited you to drink with me since you arrived, no? Why not hit a watering hole with me and let us catch up on your personal life, you married stallion you?"
Life sighed and shrugged. He'd been putting it off in all the anxiety of work and adjusting to life without the two most important stallions in his life, but Stylo was patient. Or persistent. "This Sunday?"
"Oui, there will be drinks. There will be bad singing. It will be beautiful!" Stylo clapped his hooves excitedly. It was hard for Life to believe this was a seasoned political reporter. Then again, Stylo had always been different.
Heading home once again, Life took time to look around for once. The Crystal Empire was an exceptional place to live. Its beauty could not be overstated. Light played with the crystalline buildings, contrasting with the natural elements incorporated into the cityscape. It was safe here. If Life could sacrifice his roots and live amongst these lovely ponies, he'd have Div and Bruiser on the next train.
Closing his eyes, Life could just imagine Bruiser trotting up the glimmering street, his cowcolt hat cocked at a jaunty angle atop his chestnut brown mane. His two-toned earthy coat would be glossy in the sunlight, his closed-lipped smile spreading when he thinks no one's looking. Ever since Life adopted him, Life did what he could to see Bru smile more. Of course Div would be beside him. Div's cloud-white mane would be almost too bright to look at under this much light, but Life would be too captivated by his amber eyes. His beautiful blue coat was surprisingly soft under Life's hooves, given the solid muscle Div put on as a Royal Guard. They were everything to Life.
And, without knowing it, Life felt as if he'd been ruining things for both of them. Life's magic was subtle, more subtle than any instructor at the School for Gifted Unicorns ever realized. Princess Luna'd noticed it. Life could influence ponies to help him when he felt stressed. Stretched over a long enough period, that connection could go deep. Div was the one most affected. He'd almost quit the Guard just at the thought of being separated from his husband. The pendant Luna made to control this aura kept Life from spreading it now, but the hard work of ridding his loved ones of this magical influence meant Life had to be far away.
Opening his eyes, Life sighed.
"I know that sigh, if I may be so bold." A turquoise pony appeared at his side. After a second, Life realized he'd been standing in front of a store. 'A Nick in Time Engraving' from what the sign above the door said. "I'm Nick Chisel." He held out his hoof, Life bumped it with his casually.
He smiled. "I'm not used to that still. In my day...no, I should say in the old days, we held hooves together and shook them."
Life blushed slightly, hoping it was not enough to be noticeable with his red coat. "Oh, here." He held his hoof out. Nick let out a bark of a laugh and shook hooves.
"I'm closing up for the night. Would you like to talk over a cup of tea? I just put a kettle on in my workshop." He took a step back and opened the door.
Life nodded, stepping into the engraver's shop. There were the usual signs and slabs of stones of various shapes and sizes. Different types of engraving graced the multitudinous faces around the store. Life stopped at a row near the back. They were unmistakable, although they varied like the other displays.
Nick turned around to see what held his guest up and winced. "That was my trade before I opened shop. The bulk of my business, in fact. Back in King Sombra's days."
Life looked at the smallest and admired the intricate work around the border. "It's a bit morbid to say, but they are beautiful."
He nodded, taking a moment to brush a speck of dust off of the one Life admired. "Headstones were supposed to be that way, in my opinion. Most engravers wouldn't dwell on these, but I felt that something more had to be expressed at the end of a pony's life. The end of any life, really. This one is done in the traditional Old Crystalline Style. The knotwork around the border is supposed to symbolize the bonds of love and friendship forged throughout a pony's life."
Headstones had styles? Life thought to himself. Wondering if there were fashions in this industry like there were with any other, Life resolved to ask a few questions of his own. Nick led him to the back, where even more blank slabs waited. His workbench and table were neatly cleaned, as one might expect at the end of a day. The kettle began whistling as soon as he laid eyes on it. Nick moved to take the copper cookware off the heat and began to set out a few tea things.
Life noticed as Nick puttered about that he didn't use his magic. He poured, stirred, and set things out by hoof. Life went to charge his horn and help, but as he did he felt the brush of Luna's amulet on his chest. Realizing he had his own reasons to use magic sparingly, Life set out to lend an actual hoof. Nick allowed the help at first and then tutted him off as he poured a cup for me. He allowed Life to take it and prepare it his own way.
After a sniff, Life decided that honey would go with this peppermint/licorice blend quite well. Teas were something else entirely in the Crystal Empire. The weather control in the city was unmatched by even the top-tier weather teams in Canterlot. This resulted in having so many different fruits and herbs in season year-round. Crystal Empire tea was stronger, fresher, and varied. "Good blend. CelesTEA-l?" Life plucked a tea biscuit up from the tray and discovered it was delicious lemon shortbread.
Nick shook his head. "Horsiman's. I prefer the older company. CelesTEA-l is too new; they started just after the Crystal Heart was restored," Nick said, rotating the teacup in his hooves before taking a sip. "Both have certainly taken to the new, bigger market. When King Sombra ruled, we had nothing in the way of outside trade. Our borders were closed off by black crystal. And our weather wasn't good for growing things."
"I'm sorry to remind you of..." Nick shook his head and cut him off.
"Everything reminds us of Sombra." Nick waved a hoof dismissively. "Some of my fellow citizens refuse to speak of him. But saying his name won't bring him back. One of our bigger celebrations is coming up. It's called the Festival of Lights. It memorializes those not with us. I don't know if ponies will celebrate it this year."
"Seems like that would be a bittersweet day. And with memories being so vague, it seems like a lot of effort to go to for a little payout." I pointed out.
Nick nodded. "Seems that way. Seems like no one wants to remember how much we've lost. Senator Luminaire and Senator Gleameye seemed rather keen on celebrating it. They were convinced we'd remember more if we did."
"Not everypony wants to remember." It was true as far as I'd experienced it. Some ponies were still tight-lipped and almost afraid to speak, as if the memory would cause the bad times to return.
He sighed and stood, walked over to the workbench and returned with a portrait. "I had this commissioned from a local colt in my village just outside the Empire City borders. It was still there, frozen, when I returned after Spike and his friends saved us. The power of the heart is strong, but its effects are much more localized than before. Nopony knows why, but perhaps it was like this when the Heart was first put into place. Perhaps it had grown to include a bigger area by the time I was born. The Frozen North wasn't so starkly delineated along the border. It was gradual. A nippy wind, then colder and snowier until you were a few days' walk from here."
Life thought about that. About how many ponies would have been inside the borders of the city? How many of their families hadn't been? "So, those villages weren't taken up when the Empire disappeared?"
Nick shook his head, and it was then that Life noticed the trails of a few tears on the engraver's face. "Nopony knows for sure what happened, who all was taken, and where they all were when it happened. But it seems that only those who lived and worked here were taken that day all those centuries ago."
"Wow, and here you are comforting me!" Life remarked. "I've only been separated from my family for a few months. And I'm going to see them again soon, well, I'm planning to anyway."
Nick chuckled. "Helping another pony out isn't about who has it worst. It's about who can help best. I'm glad I could put your situation in perspective, at least. And, of course, it's always good to have a friend."
"A friend?" Was this how somepony made a friend? Life wondered to himself. For a moment, a flash of panic gripped Life. He'd been emotionally vulnerable, even stressed before Nick showed up. Had his latent ability trapped another pony? Placing a hoof to his chest, Life felt the comforting weight of Luna's amulet. He calmed down, it seemed this was just a happy accident. No magic involved.
"Well, I certainly hope so." Nick replied. "Otherwise I've just been talking to a stranger."
Life put his hoof out. "Friends then." Nick bumped his hoof against Life's and smiled.
Once more on the way home, Life prided himself on not stopping by a restaurant to eat. There were things at home that didn't require cooking and for once, they actually sounded appetizing. Just as he stepped around the corner to the gate of his building, Life stopped, his heart in his throat.
Standing on the porch of his building, a blue stallion waited, ruffling his white mane with a pearly hoof. "Div?"
Amber eyes found his and Life rushed into his husband's hooves. Div embraced him warmly, but he separated them first. "I wanted you to hear it from me. I left Canterlot immediately after Celestia made the announcement."
His tone alarmed Life almost as much as his expression. "Div, what's going on?"
Div shook his head, then answered. "We're going to war with the griffons."
