Fractured Crystals

Once they had deposited their bags in their guest suite and taken a few minutes to unwind from the journey, Applejack and Fluttershy convened to discuss what they had seen in the throne room. Neither of them had much knowledge of recent events within the empire, so to hear Flurry Heart referring to Citine, a pony she seemed to have been friends with, as a traitor was a surprise to them both. It seemed like if that was the friendship problem they had come to help with, it ran far deeper than their usual ones. In the end, it was Fluttershy who thought of how to proceed. Neither of them had any idea what to do without some historical facts, similar to when she had Twilight had been sent to the Smokey Mountains. Together they would need to learn more about this 'Onyx Dawn' and see if there was something about it that would allow them an opening to begin to repair Flurry and Citrine's friendship.

Before that though, they needed to get to know Flurry Heart a little better.

Applejack had proposed the three of them head out to a café in the city where they could take in the state of the city and let Fluttershy get off her hooves at present. Neither of them thought it wise to tell Flurry that they thought they had found the problem just yet, considering how she had reacted to Citrine's presence before. For now, the unicorn had brought them to an outdoor restaurant near the market district where Fluttershy was sampling the locally grown salad with crystal berries and Applejack had settled for a thistle sandwich.

"You're sure you don't mind paying?" Fluttershy asked Flurry Heart as she looked out at the streets, ponywatching and taking in the lay of the land.

"Of course. You two have helped save the world at least half a dozen times each, I'm surprised you have to pay for anything these days," Flurry replied, sounding like her usual self again. "If anything, it's a way of thanks. Without you and the other elements of harmony, my life probably would have been over before it began."

"Say what?" Applejack asked in curiosity.

"My mother was a hoofmaiden for Princess Celestia and I was only a few months old when Nightmare Moon returned. I don't imagine she would have been kind to a pony like me if she'd won. Still, things didn't end up that way, so I was able to follow in mom's hoofsteps and ultimately become an assistant to royalty. I didn't think I was that good, but somepony disagreed if they thought I could serve Queen Cadance."

"I'm glad you were able to fulfil your dreams too." Fluttershy commented, though her voice was the only thing focused on the conversation right now.

Her eyes were watching the passing ponies, silently gauging them. That air of unease they had felt on their first pass through the city had returned and she could see ponies displaying those hints of animosity. While ponies of all kinds were about, all of it seemed to be coming from crystal ponies, shooting glares, refusing to talk to ponies, in one case she could even see a crystal mare arguing with a pegasus stallion. Normally it would have been something she would have shut out and continued on with her day, except for the fact that she could overhear the stallion briefly.

"I don't see what the big deal is, Onyx Dawn just want things to be like the old days. You know, back when world-ending threats didn't come along every few months."

"Umm, Flurry Heart?" Fluttershy asked, drawing the unicorn's attention. "I've, been hearing a lot of mentions about something called Onyx Dawn wherever we go today. You said that it was something your, former friend, was with too. I was just wondering, what exactly was it?"

"It's, a pony, a group, an ideal, a threat," Flurry replied, looking down slightly before shaking her head slightly. "How good are you two on history?"

"Well, I-I know the basics." Fluttershy said as she looked over at Applejack.

"Never been mah strong spot." AJ added.

"Okay. History was one of the things I learned in preparation so I'll try and explain everything as best I can," Flurry leaned back in her seat. "Onyx Dawn was a pony first, one born back when the Crystal Empire was under the rule of Queen Osmium II at the end of the Age of Advancement. Apparently his parents were staunch supporters of the empire and named him after Queen Onyx, one of the more...Polarising, rulers of her time."

"What'd this queen do that was so unpopular?"

"You both know about the Contact War that closed out the Time of Chaos, right?" Flurry waited while Applejack nodded, Fluttershy finishing a mouthful of her food before doing the same. "Well in the aftermath of the war, Queen Onyx and her Crystal Kingdom made a land grab for all the lands of Equestria in the north, covering the territory that the empire has today. Everything from the still-fresh ruins of the Equestrian capital on the west coast to the ends of the Patchwalk Mountains on the east coast, she stole it all and reformed her kingdom into the Crystal Empire. Equestria was still too weakened by the Yaks to do anything about it and the empire went into isolation for centuries afterward so there was no room to negotiate. It's not like twenty years ago when Princess Celestia gave those lands to Princess Cadance after the empire returned, everypony was fuming over it."

"Goodness, I can't imagine one of the princesses acting like that," Fluttershy said in surprise, leaning against the table slightly. "Why would she do that?"

"I don't know, it happened over two thousand years ago after all. But, I suppose if you give the wrong pony too much power, they can make bad decisions because they think nopony can stop them."

"Alright, so this pony was named after a bad ruler, what happened next?" Applejack asked.

"Ah, yes, I got a little side-tracked," Flurry rubbed the back of her neck with a hoof before continuing. "So, Onyx Dawn was likely raised to put the Crystal Empire above all else. He was still a colt when Queen Osmium was assassinated and the empire was corrupted by King Sombra. He had to go through being a slave, Celestia and Luna's efforts to save the empire, a thousand years in limbo and then everything that happened when the empire returned. I know a lot of crystal ponies were grateful for being free again, but..."

"He wasn't?" Applejack finished, looking like she wasn't impressed by the lack of gratitude.

"From what Citrine told me, Onyx saw it as the crystal ponies trading one master for another. He thought that Equestria had taken payment for freeing the empire from Sombra by placing one of their own on the throne. An alicorn instead of a crystal pony, one so close to Princess Celestia as well. When the empire became a protectorate of Equestria, he claimed it wasn't a new bond between the two nations, but full annexation."

"Wait, you said he was a colt when the empire returned," Applejack interjected. "The Crystal Empire's agreement with Equestria only happened a year later. How old could he have been at the time?"

"I'm not sure. To be fair, he was just an ordinary pony to everypony for many years, though he was about twenty when he became known. Just walked into the royal court one day in nine FP and laid out an airtight explanation for why Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor should take the titles of Queen and King. He'd drummed up a following too, enough that they had to go along with it or risk losing massive support within the empire. After that, he just went quiet, until about five years ago when we started hearing of Onyx Dawn again. Not as a pony, but a organization."

"That sounds bad...What do they want?" Fluttershy said, nervously poking at a few stray leaves in her bowl.

"The dissolution of any bond with Equestria, to return the Crystal Empire to the isolated power that it was under Queen Onyx," Flurry answered, looking grim. "We thought they would just be small and try something beyond their reach. Like that cult Starlight Glimmer had in the Patchwalk Mountains that you two helped break up. But they have numbers. It's believed that between twenty and forty-five percent of the city follows their beliefs, including a number non-crystal ponies. It's enough for them to be considered a serious opposition to the crown. They don't have the pull for anything big because the populace of Rainbow Falls fully supports the empire's diplomatic situation, but they've been trying to stop any more rulings that strengthen the alliance with Equestria."

Applejack and Fluttershy looked at each other, both thinking the same thing. As bad as Onyx Dawn sounded, politics was something far beyond either of their abilities. They would have to leave that one to Princess Celestia and Queen Cadance. Still, the smaller effects were something they could deal with. Flurry Heart's friendship with Citrine was in tatters because of it, there was no doubt the map had summoned them to help repair it. The question now was how to approach the topic without raising Flurry's ire again.

"So...I mean, if you're alright to tell us...When did Citrine start following them?" Fluttershy asked, wilting slightly under the dark look Flurry gave her. The unicorn held her reaction in check though, not wanting to yell at a mare in her condition.

"About a week ago," Flurry replied, sighing slightly. "Though I didn't find out until about two days ago, when he came to try and convince me to join as well. Without even thinking about my position in the royal court, that I'd be turning my back on everything I'd worked for!"

"And I'm guessing you shut him down." Fluttershy continued, trying to sound impartial.

"I-I had to, he looked like he was going to go for me!" Flurry snapped, hoof shaking as she smacked it down on the table hard enough to make Applejack and Fluttershy jump in surprise. "He just kept going on about how everypony that matters understands Onyx Dawn...I swear, he's lucky he lives out by the station or I might have to deal with him every day and then I'd have to...Well, let's just say it's good he isn't closer."

Applejack looked over at Fluttershy and smiled reassuringly, the look in her eye making it clear she had an idea. Fluttershy nodded slightly, still feeling rattled by Flurry's outburst even as the unicorn managed to calm herself down.

"Alright, well, this was certainly...Something," Applejack pushed her plate away and sat back, looking over at Flurry. "I've got a good idea on why the map called us here, but I wanna check some things out first. Flurry Heart, why don't you and Fluttershy take some time to unwind? You kinda look like you both could use it."

"That, that does sound nice." Fluttershy replied, running a hoof through her mane.

"Yeah, I really should find a better way to vent my frustrations than what happened there," Flurry said as she pulled some bits out of a saddlepack to pay for lunch. "I'm sorry about that, Fluttershy."

"Well, thank you..." Fluttershy looked down as she said it, sounding unconvinced. Flurry folded her ears back and looked away sadly at that.

"But, what about you, Applejack?"

"Ah'm going to see this Citrine an' get his side of the story." AJ stood up and stretched, ready to go. Flurry opened her mouth immediately but stopped herself and closed her mouth after several seconds. "Oh, and try an keep yer temper in check while I'm gone. It'd be much better for Fluttershy's sake...An' yours."

Applejack's eyes narrowed slightly as she got down from her seat, turning away from Flurry and set off back toward the edge of the city. There was no excuse for snapping at her friend like that and Flurry was lucky that was all she'd said. She couldn't let it cloud her focus now though, she had to see what Citrine had to say for himself. Hopefully by the time she was done, Fluttershy and Flurry Heart would have calmed down completely and they could move onto the next step without too much trouble.