Jasper walked into the diner and sat at the counter. “Cup of coffee, please.”
The pony at the stove put a cover over the dish he was preparing and turned on the coffee machine. “Crystal berry juice in it?”
“Nah. But I will take some sugar.”
“Sugar? That’s good. You find work?”
Jasper sighed. “A few odd jobs around town. Not enough to afford crystal berry juice, I’ll tell you that. Thanks, Azurite,” he said as the coffee was put in front of him.
“Mm. Do you mind? The breakfast rush’ll be coming in soon.”
Jasper picked up the cup and slid down to the end seat. He didn’t really mind being pushed aside. It was lucky that Azurite even let him sit in the diner. Most ponies wouldn’t want to have empty seats that could go to paying customers. At least by moving to the end, Jasper could ensure that there was only one seat that ponies would avoid because of him.
Azurite wiped the counter. “You know, any time you wanted, you could get that filed down. Then I wouldn’t have to move you. Heck, you might even find a steady job.”
“Now, don’t go starting that again. I’m not getting rid of my horn. I’m just as Cadence made me.”
“And it might help if you quit that kind of talk. Nopony around here goes around talking about Cadence making them. You were foaled, same as anypony.”
Jasper kept quiet. He had long since given up on religious arguments. Ponies filtered in and out of the diner, while he just sipped at his coffee. Even then, he liked to see ponies coming in and spending their bits for some breakfast, getting started on their workdays. Though he didn’t keep strict count, he could see that the number each day was getting lower.
When the rush died down, he could talk to Azurite again. “You going to be all right here? Hate to have you with me in the ranks of the unemployed.”
“I should be,” Azurite said. “I’ve got the paper on the diner, so if I had to I could sell it.”
“If you could find a buyer.”
“Yeah. But if the worst happened, I’d go and be a civil servant—sorry.”
“Don’t be,” said Jasper. “I’m not ashamed of my time in civil service. I hope to get back there.”
Azurite leaned in close. “Now listen. You’ve got to face some facts. They’re never going to vote to start up crystal vibrating again. They’re certainly not going to do it when everypony’s out of work. And even when the economy does turn around, what makes you think that anypony wants to pay for a bunch of horn-heads who produce nothing?”
“We didn’t produce nothing. We kept the land going.”
“Yeah, right.”
Jasper finished his third cup of coffee. Azurite didn’t offer him a fourth. The stories would only get worse if he did.
“You know,” Jasper said, “at one time they told us that vibrating the crystals spread magic into the soil, the water, the very air. They even said that, if there was enough of it, the unicorns could control the magic.”
“Mmhm. I wonder who said that. Probably, oh, I don’t know, the unicorns? It’s a legend to make your kind look better than they actually are.”
“It wasn’t just us. Everypony benefitted. Some grew wings and flew among the clouds. Others didn’t show anything outwardly, but still had the magic within them.”
Azurite finished stacking the dishes and put them in the sink. Then he focused on Jasper. “All right, let me ask you this, then. If the crystals put out magic, why did they stop? Hm? You kept on vibrating right until the council cut you off five years ago, but nopony in living memory knows anything about magic.”
“It’s another legend. There was a great disaster coming, and the princess of the land said that she needed all the power the crystals could produce to boost her own magic. And all the vibrators agreed to focus them on her.”
Azurite snorted. “Please! One pony says something, and they all listen? You’re talking fantasy, old-timer.”
Jasper got up and prepared to leave. “There didn’t used to be a council and votes and campaigns. They used to trust the princess. And let me ask you something: how come we’re called the Crystal Kingdom even to this day? Not the Crystal Republic or the Crystal Nation.”
He walked out without giving Azurite a chance to answer.
Outside the diner, there was a newsstand. Jasper ignored all the headlines talking about further cutbacks, but he did take note of the date.
“September first,” he said to himself, not caring if anypony thought he was weird. “That means the fair is tomorrow. Or would be. How long has it been? Not since I was a colt. Long time. The animals, the food. Course, I can’t have that kind of food these days, even if I could afford it. But I’ve got the old flag up in the attic. I should get it out and fly it tomorrow. It’ll kill any chance of me getting work; nopony likes to hire some codger who still flies a flag on fair day. But I’ll do it anyway. Maybe I’ll close my eyes and see the fair again. The tournaments. The children screaming. . . “
He stopped and lifted his ears. There were children screaming, but not in laughter as they had been in his daydream. Far off in the distance. He galloped toward the noise.
As he got closer, he could see a haze of dust covering the morning sun. A mare he knew was running hard the other way, so he stopped her. “Beryl! What’s going on?”
“Troll attack! Everypony run!”
“Can’t be. They never cross the border.”
“Well, they have! I’m getting out of here!” said Beryl, and not wasting any more time, she took to her heels and sped away.
Jasper ran toward the noise and the dust. He could scarcely believe it. He’d never even seen a troll, only the boulders they knocked down from the mountain. The legend was that they were kept away by the magic of the princess, but of course he was told by all the ponies he knew that they stayed away because there was no good reason for them to come to the Crystal Kingdom.
He turned a corner and saw them. Three huge trolls, each as tall as three ponies, with dirty beards and mouths full of sharp teeth. Panic reined in the street as parents grabbed their foals and ran for any building they could find, but one of the young ponies had frozen in fear, and her mother was desperately trying to drag her away.
The trolls were making sport of it, finding rocks and trees and throwing them at the live target. Jasper galloped as fast as he could toward the two of them, shouting all the time to try to distract the trolls. A rock struck the mother on the flank, and she screamed in pain.
He changed his course. Without thinking about it, he lowered his head and ran full speed into the nearest troll. He only could reach the leg, but his horn pierced the thick hide, and he saw blood pour down. Then his head hit and he passed out.
When he came to, Azurite was looking over him with tears in his eyes. “You damn fool, what did you have to go and do that for?”
“The mare and her filly?” Jasper said.
“Don’t move. Don’t talk. They got away, don’t worry.”
Jasper coughed. “I got him good, didn’t I. Ripped that troll apart. I’ve got his blood on me.”
Azurite’s tears flowed harder. “Crazy coot. That’s your blood. The doctor’s on his way.”
“Tell him to take his time. I’m probably done for either way. But I’ll miss the fair. The fair’s tomorrow, you know.”
“Jasper, come on. There’s no fair.”
“Don’t cancel the fair just because of the trolls. Don’t ever cancel it. You’ll love it, you know. The tournaments, the games, the dancing. I can hear the horn now. The great crystal horn that they let anypony blow into. I can hear it. . . “ He drifted off.
“Jasper! Stay with me! Wake up!” Azurite cried.
Jasper’s head hung down. With his eyes closed, he said his last words. “Don’t cancel the fair. Ask Princess Cadence. Even if you can’t find her, just ask. She’ll come. If she can’t, she’ll send her friends. Friends are so important, Azurite. You’ve always been mine. Just ask Princess Cadence. Ask her. . . “ His breathing stopped.
Azurite, in front of a gathering crowd, said the first prayer of his life.
