This Premise Was Definitely Not Just an Excuse to Write Fluff
The Crystal Empire was a beautiful place to be around Hearth’s Warming.
There was something mystical about the chilly air, the sharp cleanliness of the winter breeze cut with the scent of cinnamon and freshly-baked pastries. The delighted cries of fillies running in the streets as they weaved in between food stalls in a game of tag spanning the entire city. Brightened bells rang out from every street, their shining surfaces reflecting the vivid teals, aquamarines, pastel purples, and crimsons that the Northern Lights projected, blanketing the ponies in a peaceful glow.
That was yesterday. It was unfortunate, then, that Nurse Redheart was having a very bad today.
“Happy thoughts, happy thoughts…” she muttered as she galloped away from Crystal Castle, projecting images of Hearth’s Warming into her mind. Behind her, the castle groaned, its structure combatting the rotting vines that wrapped around it. Angered rumbling echoed from its depths, resonating through the city.
She tried her best to ignore the panicked chaos surrounding her. Glancing to her left, she made out parents embracing and sheltering their foals, staring despondently at the castle spires. To her right, shop owners packed their valuables and abandoned their booths and stores, joining the fleeing crowd.
Nurse Redheart increased her pace, catching up to a unicorn mare. “What’s going on?” she shouted over the whistling wind. “Where’s Princess Cadance and Shining Armor?”
“Haven’t you heard?” the mare called back. “They’re in Canterlot for a couple days. Official business.”
“Some rulers,” she muttered under her breath. In a louder voice, she asked, “So I assume we just hope that the guards know what they’re doing, then?”
Just then, the crowd came to a stop as a group of royal guards stepped into its path. “Hold on!” one of the guards shouted. “The princess may be gone, but that doesn’t mean we can’t stay and fight for ourselves.”
The crowd chattered confusingly. “Isn’t that your job?” a pony cried out.
“We’ve got a plan,” another guard responded, “but we’re going to need your help. Citizens, families, friends, we’re going to show that monster who’s boss, together. So please, lend us your ears. Let’s take back the city!”
The crowd cheered, waving their hooves in the air, and the guards moved quickly to quiet them down again.
Nurse Redheart gave the mare beside her a glance. “That was probably the most easily swayed crowd I have ever seen. I don’t know about you, but I’d rather keep running. I’d hate to see all these ponies injured, or worse…” She frowned.
The mare cocked her head, grinning back. “No, see, they do know what they’re doing. We got this! Let’s hear them out, okay?”
Nurse Redheart groaned, turning her attention back to the front as the guards continued to try and calm the crowd down, shouting and waving their hooves to demand attention. “Yeah, very competent.” She rolled her eyes. “Worst. Vacation. Ever.”
It was the stupidest plan Redheart had heard in her life.
So why then, she thought to herself, am I running back towards the castle, towards this… elder vine monster… thing? There was, unfortunately, a simple answer. The rest of the crowd was doing the same, and Redheart didn’t want to get taken for a coward. That, and—she shuddered—the amount of triage she’d probably have to do afterwards.
It was a surreal sight. Parents embraced even harder than before, but with a purpose. Friends shouted compliments at each other from across the street—”You’re breathtaking!” “No, you’re breathtaking!” Large groups of ponies huddled in circles, playing icebreakers to get to know each other better. Redheart stared incredulously as one such group linked hooves seemingly at random, then attempted to untangle themselves only to collapse into one messy pile.
She took a deep breath in and out. It seemed like everypony was already occupied. She pondered joining one of the groups, then immediately decided against it. She’d vowed never to partake in one of those activities again after medical university.
Then, a stroke of fortune. She noticed a changeling sitting blank-eyed on a restaurant bench, a half-eaten daisy sandwich beside him. Gulping, she felt her cheeks grow hot as she changed directions and ran towards him, squeaking out, “Hitherewhat’syournameandcanIhugyou?”
“Huh—” was all the changeling could manage before Redheart closed the gap, leaping into the air and roughly colliding with him. Pony and changeling rolled across the ground, sending snow flying. When they stopped, Redheart was on top of the changeling. She gave a painful grin and slowly scooted off, brushing the snow off her coat and offering a hoof to help the changeling up. He took it.
“Heh heh heh.” Clearing her throat, she said, “Well, I think we got off on the wrong hoof.” With a forced smile, she pointed a hoof towards herself. “Hi, I’m Nurse Redheart. What’s your name?”
The changeling looked at the sandwich on the table, then at Redheart, then back at the sandwich. “That was a really good sandwich…”
Redheart’s eyes and smile grew wider. “That’s wonderful, mister ‘That Was a Really Good Sandwich.’ Now, do I have permission to hug you?”
The changeling snapped his sight back towards Redheart. “Oh, sorry. I’m Kevin. Why do you want to hug me again?”
Redheart slammed a hoof against her face. Her cheeks grew warmer. “Look, okay… this is embarrassing enough as it is. Just please accept the hug and then life will be fine and dandy.”
She watched, dismayed, as Kevin simply stared wordlessly back at her with unblinking eyes. She turned around, grimacing, and mumbled something into the wind.
“I’m sorry, what was that?”
Redheart, still facing away, spoke just a little louder. “Ihavetohugsomeponytosavetheempire.”
“Huh?” Kevin raised an eyebrow.
Redheart sighed and turned back towards Kevin. She felt her soul trying to escape from her body. “So there’s the Crystal Heart. It operates based on love, see? So the guards—” she made a face and rolled her eyes “—thought it would be a good idea if everypony just did lovey activities and then the Crystal Heart would activate somehow, and blast that vine monster into a million pieces. So, hug me? Please?”
Kevin looked around, sniffing the air. “No wonder the air felt a little different just now.” He turned to face the castle, staring nonchalantly at the vines, which were now flailing back and forth as more angry shouts emanated from inside. “Ohh, that monster.” He looked back at Redheart’s waiting arms, then back at the vines. After a moment of silence, he added, “Well it’s not hurting anyone, is it? I mean, not like it’s attacked any ponies. Maybe it just wants the castle, if—”
Redheart wrinkled her nose, blushed, and embraced Kevin.
“—Oh!” He started at the sudden warmth, but adjusted, snuggling into Redheart. “This is quite nice, actually. I’ve never really hugged a pony, to be honest, but this is rather soft, and—”
He fell silent as Redheart put a hoof to his snout. Despite screaming internally, Redheart said, “Well, I’m happy you’re happy.” She waited a moment, looking at the sky, searching for a beam of light that didn’t come. In the distance, she heard more ponies hurling praise at each other—“You’re smart, and amazing, and—” “No, you’re smarterer and more amazinger!” At least the others were enjoying themselves. She sighed. “I… I feel nothing right now.”
She focused on the chaos surrounding her, and in a way, it was oddly peaceful. “To be honest, I’ve never hugged a changeling before.” She shifted. “So, what brought you to the Crystal Empire?”
“Oh, I’m just here for the food,” said Kevin. “Quite nice this time of year. Speaking of.” He looked back at his sandwich. “Do… do you think we can scoot back a little bit?”
Redheart laughed. “S-sure.” Still hugging tightly, they clumsily inched back towards the table, one hoofstep at a time.
When they drew near, Kevin picked up the sandwich in his magic and took a bite. “Mm, ish very good. You want shum?” When Redheart shook her head, he devoured the rest. “Mhm. They don’t make sandwiches like that anywhere else.” He licked his lips. “I have a bit of a weird request. Can… can I kind of… pet you right now?”
Redheart raised an eyebrow, chuckling. “Well, I don’t see why not.” She hummed contentedly as Kevin began running a hoof through her fur, feeling his hard carapace, as his body heat made the winter chill just a little more bearable.
A cry rang out. “The monster started attacking ponies! Love each other harder!”
Redheart groaned loudly. “Ohh, my stars. Uhh… you have a uh, nice, uh, color! You have the ability to change into some cute animals! Your name is… unique!”
“Wait!” cried Kevin. “Let me go. Your fur is really soft. It’s nice hugging you like this. I get the feeling that even though this hasn’t been the greatest day for you, you’re a lot less stressed than you are normally.”
Redheart exhaled softly. “You know what? You’re right.” She looked off towards the horizon. “Work has been chaotic as of late, and it’s been nice to unwind a little. Thanks for noticing.” She drew the changeling closer.
Then, she saw a guard run down the street, holding a whimsical looking device, springs and cogs crammed here and there. He thrust it in Redheart’s general direction, squinting at the dials. “You two!” he called out. “Your love levels aren’t high enough! Do your best, citizens!” Then he ran off, presumably to do the same with the other ponies.
Kevin’s wings buzzed slightly, and he tucked his tail between his legs. “Okay, I’ll be honest. You… you want to know the real reason why I’m here?”
Redheart turned her head. “Why?”
Kevin looked down at the ground. “Well… I know they’re not the best team around, and they’re on a big losing streak right now, but—”
He shrank as Redheart gasped. “Oh my gosh. You mean the Crystal Sluggers? Home of the talented Pitch Out?”
Kevin looked up, eyes wide. “You mean… you mean you like them too?”
“Yes!” Redheart giggled. “Did you see that game they had a couple months ago? You know the one. The third inning, and then they were like ohh! And then—”
Kevin clapped his hooves together. “Yes! And then just when you thought they were going to lose, then it was like ohhh! And then—”
“—The press conference afterwards! Where the team manager was just—”
“—And the other team manager was so mad! You could just feel the anger seething off of him, literally!” Kevin smacked his lips. “Tasted a lot like lemon-lime soda, actually. Not as bad as I’d have expected it to be.”
Redheart sighed happily. “They really are an underrated team, aren’t they. Ohmigosh. I love you so much right now.”
And just like that, the ground beneath them began to glow, coming to life with a soft hum. As they stared in shock, the light spread, and their eyes followed the lines that connected with the glowing spots beneath the other ponies around them. As the floor bathed in an effervescent pulse of light blue, Redheart muttered, “That actually worked?”
Then, the light rose off the ground in streaks, climbing into the sky like dancing threads. With a startled, “Bwuh!” Redheart gripped onto Kevin and watched as it converged into a single bright ball, then shot downwards towards the Crystal Heart.
First, there was silence. Then, the rumbling as its magic began to activate, sending echoes throughout the city, triumphant chords filling her with awe. And finally, with one powerful hum, a beam of energy pulsed through the city, and Redheart closed her eyes as it hit her like a strong gale.
When she opened her eyes, she gasped. “Kevin! You’re a crystal pony!” She quickly raised a hoof up. “I’m a crystal pony! Aaaaa—”
Then she looked up as the vine monster began withering away, flailing its limbs, giving one last desperate cry before vanishing entirely. She let go of Kevin, jumping in the air, whooping and cheering. Then, she grabbed onto him and hugged him even tighter, mashing her cheek against his carapace. “My vacation is saved! And I look so gooood…”
Kevin, who was at this point both very startled and very amused, returned the hug. “There’s a game tomorrow, you know. How’d you like to come with me?”
Redheart smiled. “I’d love to. But first…”
“Make way! Nurse coming through!” Redheart pushed her way through the crowd of injured ponies. “Although… Kevin, would you be a dear and let go of me for just a second?”
Kevin squirmed and pressed himself closer to Redheart. “But it feels so nice…”
Redheart giggled. “Oh, you.”
