Fractured Crystals

Compared to the tension that seemed to be everywhere within the center of the city, the outskirts of Crystal City were downright peaceful. While the overall structure was the same as the original districts that had existed for thousands of years, these new areas that had been built after the empire's reintegration with the world had benefited from both the advancements made during the past thousand years and the influx of earth ponies, pegasi and unicorns that now called the empire home. The southern district that linked the train station with the old city was a prime example, as the improved afternoon weather drew ponies of all kinds out into the parks and public buildings that dotted the area.

Applejack couldn't help but marvel as she made her way down the main thoroughfare that led back out of the city. While some ponies might have found the relatively uniform design of the crystal buildings drab, she found it colourful and distinctive, as well as having a less subtle benefit. If some new world destroyer decided to attack back in Ponyville, they would have easily identifiable targets in the town hall, the Equestria Defence Force post and Twilight's castle. Here, the Crystal Castle was the only distinctive landmark that could be easily targeted. She knew from talking to Rainbow Dash that one of the multi-story buildings around here was an EDF army post for the Crystal Guards, yet she wouldn't even know where to start looking for it. For all the other problems the empire may have at present, the crystal ponies seemed to harbour a sense of security.

Still, those thoughts were a distraction from the real reason she was here. A few stops for directions on her way down had confirmed where Citrine lived, on a block at the edge of a sports area called Faith Park. AJ could see a variety of sports and other activities taking place as she arrived at the park, walking its perimeter toward her destination. She could see hoofball, buckball, tennis, even ice archery and others she couldn't see clearly. The sense of community and bonding was a welcome sight for Applejack, a small smile coming to her face as she caught sight a small family, an orange unicorn stallion with a goatee, a green crystal mare and a yellow colt, winding down from some game or other together.

The sight made her think back to the discussion about finding somepony she'd had with Fluttershy on the train. She had two stallions in her life that could easily be that stallion, if she could work up the nerve to put some thought to it and decide which path they put toward her was the one she wanted to take. Such a matter would have to wait until she got back to Ponyville however.

Putting the thought aside for now, she looked round again and continued on her way. While there was enough going on nearby to keep her focus, the walk itself was uneventful and before long she had found Citrine's house, itself a crystal building like any other. She trotted up to the door and knocked, waiting for a response. After a minute she was tapping a hoof as she kept waiting. Another minute and she realised she may have to look elsewhere right now.

"May I help you?"

Applejack spun round to find herself face to face with none other than Citrine, a quiver of arrows on his back and a bow resting around his neck. He could well have been in the park and she'd missed him completely.

'Well, that's convenient.' She thought to herself before nodding. "Yes sir, Citrine. I've been looking for ya."

"I see. I'm afraid you have me at a disadvantage." Citrine replied. Now that he was speaking without having Flurry Heart to react to, he sounded pleasant enough, just a pony like any other.

"I'm Applejack, an' I just wanted to talk to you about a few things."

"Oh...Oh!" Citrine's eyes widened slightly as he realised who he was talking to and he perked up slightly. "I-I'm sorry I didn't recognise you earlier. You want to talk to me? Then come in."

Applejack stepped aside to let Citrine unlock the door and open it for her. The crystal pony entered first and waited for her to follow as he took off his bow and quiver. The thin and furnished interior of the house was a bit of a tight fit for a bulky pony like Applejack but she managed to make her way down the hallway without knocking into anything and follow Citrine into a kitchen area at the end of the hall.

"You know, ah didn't expect such hospitality from an Onyx Dawn pony." Applejack said, deciding to get straight to the point. Citrine froze for a second and seemed to go pale before composing himself.

"I may support an independent Crystal Empire, but anypony who disregards all that you and your friends have done for us over that is a fool." He replied, fetching some cups out of a cupboard as well as a bottle of some kind of juice from the fridge.

"Well thank you, I think."

"I'm sorry, you probably didn't come all the way out here to discuss politics," Citrine poured out the drinks and offered a cup to her. "Crystal berry, helps keep you sharp."

Applejack nodded in thanks and took the cup, taking a curious sip, it was tangy and reminiscent of cherry, but not unpleasantly so.

"Hmmm, no apple cider but not bad. Ah'm guessing this relates to the archery?"

"Yes, it's a hobby of mine. Well, more than that now," Citrine replied proudly. "I represented the empire for ice archery in last year's equestria games in Manehatten. Went out in the semi-finals but not bad for my first time."

"Mighty impressive," AJ replied after taking another sip. "But, to be honest, politics was part of the reason ah came here."

"Oh..." Citrine sighed out the side of his mouth and leaned against a counter, looking uneasy again.

"It's mostly to do with your friend though. Flurry Heart told us about how you two went and stopped being friends over it, but I think she might have been...Making some of it up."

"What makes you think that?" Citrine asked before pausing as he remembered who he was talking to, coupled with a raised eyebrow from Applejack. "Right, you'd know. Silly question. So what did she say that made you suspicious?"

"Well firstly it was after we first saw you that she said she wished she'd never met you," Applejack commented, watching to see how he was going to react. "Then when she was telling us about how you tried to convince her, she said you wanted to go for her and that you thought only ponies that mattered supported Onyx Dawn."

"Did she now?" Citrine downed the rest of his drink and gave a hiss of discontent. "Sorry, bit strong. So what makes you question what she said?"

"Her hoof was a-twitching when she said those things. An' I think ah know a thing or two about when a pony's trying to pass a telltale lie sign for somethin' else, like anger fer instance. So I just hoped to hear your side of the tale, about what happened when you went to her two days ago."

"Alright," Citrine put his glass down and straightened up. "I'll admit there's some truth in there. I originally learned about Onyx Dawn from one of Crystal City's buckball players and a lot of ponies tend to listen to stars like that. However, that's about as far as the similarities go from what you've said."

"Alright, so you tell me how things went for you." Applejack finished her drink and shook her head when Citrine went to offer a refill.

"So I did go to see Flurry Heart a few days ago, since we'd planned to go out for drinks once she was done for the day," Citrine explained, stroking a hoof along the edge of the counter. "She asked me how I'd been since it had been some time since we'd been able to meet up. I told her about how I'd been thinking about Onyx Dawn, since I had come to the conclusion they had a point. Don't get me wrong, I don't condone the ideal that the Crystal Empire should shun the world for its own gains, I just think that us crystal ponies can do more to benefit everypony if we had a little space to forge our own path instead of being a protectorate of Equestria."

"Look, you don't have to worry about me judging you or nothing," Applejack replied, looking unbothered, "They're your beliefs and they're just fine as long as you're not hurting nopony."

"Okay. Phew...Anyway, I just wanted to explain to Flurry Heart why I'd come to this point and what she thought of them. Thought it would make a nice topic of debate during our drinks. Flurry Heart's normally a very rational pony so it seemed like the kind of thing she could discuss without it going overboard. I may have been gushing a bit though, looking back on it I probably sounded like I was on a recruitment drive."

"And you were doing this to a pony who works right next to Cadance and Shining Armor, in the heart of the castle, who's whole job involves complete dedication to the queen?"

"Well when you put it like that it does sound kind of stupid," Citrine grinned sheepishly and rubbed his neck with a hoof. "I wasn't thinking like that at the time though. I was happy and motivated and thought I had an idea for a fun evening. Right up until I stopped talking and saw the glare she was giving me. That girl could make a windigo back off."

"Uh-huh, so what happened then?"

"She starts snapping at me and I-I've never seen her so angry. Flurry's normally so calm and refined due to her job, seeing her hoof pointing and calling me a conniving coward, a brainwashed colt of Sombra and even a traitor to the empire was unreal. At the time I didn't know how to respond and she just kept getting angrier, until she's screaming in my face about how she can't believe she could have ever been friends with a pony like me before storming off. I hoped she might calm down after a few days and we could try to talk it out but, well you've seen how she sees me at the moment."

Applejack nodded, taking in his story. In truth, she still didn't know enough to make an informed decision on who was closer to the truth. Citrine definitely seemed to be more genuine in his explanation though, no telltale signs of making anything up. She knew as well that even the most level headed ponies could get pretty heated over politics. Last years mayoral election in Ponyville had seen some tense moments flare up between Caramel supporters and Diamond Tiara supporters. She put the thought aside and focused on what she could do for now. Citrine just needed a chance to explain himself.

"Alright then. Citrine, do you have some spare time?"

"Yes, but why?"

"This whole mess came about from a simple misunderstandin', an' I'm pretty sure the map called us here to help sort it out. We just need to talk to Flurry and sort all this out, and I'll be there t'make sure it goes smoothly. Come on, I know where she is."

"...What map?" Citrine said to himself in confusion as he put his glass down and followed Applejack out of the house.

"I ah, hope you don't take this the wrong way but, motherhood suits you well." Flurry Heart said, hoping to break the tension somewhat.

"Thank you. It's, very pleasant." Fluttershy replied, sounding completely out of it. Nopony could blame her though, being immersed in a crystal mud bath, leaving her completely weightless, must have been pure bliss in her condition.

Things had remained somewhat awkward between the two of them after Applejack had left. Fluttershy hadn't spoken to Flurry again up to this point and the unicorn was trying her best to make up for her outburst. She was only just starting to get somewhere though, not that she blamed Fluttershy for not being happy with her. For now, she'd had to settle for covering any spa treatments Fluttershy had chosen and thinking about how she was going to properly apologise to her when the opportunity presented itself.

The chime of the spa's main entrance opening drew her attention and she perked up at the sight of Applejack entering. She looked pretty perky and the smile on her face only grew as she saw how relaxed Fluttershy was. Any goodwill Flurry was feeling on seeing the mare's return died on the spot the second she spotted who was accompanying her.

"Applejack...?" Flurry asked as she stood up, her tone cold, bordering on dangerous. Applejack simply looked back at her, remaining stoic.

"Yes, ah'm here with Citrine." Applejack replied.

"Who's side are you on?!" Flurry spat, closing the gap between them quickly. Applejack simply stood her ground and watched, refusing to rise to the challenge.

"Noponys. That's mah duty here."

"Yet you come here with him, did you let him brainwash you too?"

Applejack glared at Flurry Heart and opened her mouth to reply, only to halted as a pink glow flared from Flurry's horn and formed around her muzzle, jamming it in place before she could get a word out.

"You'd try and bring one of our guardians over to your traitors' cult? What's wrong with you?!" Flurry continued as she turned on Citrine. Though he looked rattled, he stood his ground as well while Applejack glanced over Flurry Heart's shoulder.

"Applejack simply wanted to hear my side of the story, I told her and-"

"And what? Tried to turn her against her home? You really expect me to believe you'd try anything less?!" Flurry yelled, making Citrine pull his head away and wince. By now she seemed to have forgotten that they were in a public place, though at present only the spa staff were present to hear her ranting.

"Flurry, please. If you'll just let Applejack go and let us explain..."

"Why? So she can spew lies to make you look good? Try it, go on, because I'd say that that's-"

"ENOUGH!"

Flurry jumped at the shout behind her and spun round to find herself muzzle to muzzle with Fluttershy. She was still dripping mud from her treatment and breathing heavily, her eyes burning with an intensity that overpowered everything that saw them. Despite her own rage, Flurry found herself cowering under that look of pure fury.

"Jumping to conclusions because of a belief is something," Fluttershy growled, everypony taking a step back from her even if she didn't raise her voice again. "But don't you DARE assume we should always take your side, or refuse to hear out your friend, or ever suggest that Applejack would lie to help a friend! You should be ashamed of yourself, a grown mare shutting out the views of others like a stubborn filly! I think you owe all these ponies an apology, don't you?"

Flurry let her magic fade and looked round at Fluttershy, Applejack and Citrine. Her face contorted into several expressions as she stammered and spluttered, trying to figure out how she was supposed to react. Citrine kept his ears folded back and eyes clenched shut, fearing an escalation of the shouting. Applejack just wiggled her lower jaw a little to check it was alright before looking over at Fluttershy in concern.

"I...I can't believe this..." Flurry eventually managed to state before turning and walked out of the building. The entire area remained silent in the aftermath, broken only by Fluttershy's heavy breathing.

"I...I'm sorry...Hormones..." She eventually said before sitting back on her haunches, sounding more like her old self but shaking incessantly. Whether that was adrenaline, stress or something worse, nopony could be sure.

"Oh Fluttershy, I-I'm so sorry I put you through that," Applejack quickly moved over to her to check she was alright. Though she seemed to be physically fine aside from some tiredness and the shaking, the other possible effects of such stress and anger didn't bear thinking about. "Citrine are you okay too?"

"Yes..." Citrine replied quietly, voice cracking slightly.

Applejack sighed to herself as she realised that she'd underestimated just how strongly Flurry had held her views. Or how much harder she'd just made things with that error of judgement.