Crystal Empire - Let it Rain

by TalkingToMyself

Rating: everyone
Tags: Crystal Ponies, Slice of Life, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Flurry Heart, Alternate Universe, Original Character, Princess Cadance
Length: 26732

Almost a decade after the reappearance of the Crystal Empire, the crystal ponies had done their best to rebuild. Now, it's time for the Empire to start growing again. But Radiant Beam is just a researcher from Canterlot, what help could she offer?

This story is part of the Crystal Note AU that starts with Crystal Note - Welcome to Sweet Apple Acres!.
It is not necessary to read any of the previous stories, but there will be referrals to ponies and events from them. If you want to get a good background for this story, I recommend you read Legacy of the Crusaders and Windigo Storm.

The story takes place during the events of Where life leads us and some characters from this story will be mentioned. You can read this story on it's own, but if you like to learn more about Crystal Note's Crystal Empire and its inhabitants, you'll find a collection of shorter story arcs if you follow the link.
This story started as a chapter of Where life leads us, but it soon grew so big that I decided it deserved to stand on its own.

A decade ago, the legendary Crystal Empire had reappeared, and with it its inhabitants, the crystal ponies. After recovering their memories and driving out the last remains of the evil king Sombra, Princess Cadance took the throne and guided her new citizens through many years of grief, healing and rebuilding.

Now, a new generation crystal ponies is growing up and the trauma of war and misery starts to fade. It is time for the crystal ponies to move on, and for the Crystal Empire to start growing once more. For this task, Princess Cadance asked for help from their southern neighbours, the Kingdom of Equestria.

One of the ponies who followed her call is Radiant Beam, a unicorn researcher from the Royal Institute of Magic in Canterlot. This is the story of her journey into the frozen north.

Published 2022-06-22 19:40:00 UTC
Last updated 2022-06-22 19:40:00 UTC

Let it rain

A unicorn, an earth pony and a pegasus pony met at the northern border of the Crystal Empire. It almost sounded like the beginning of a joke or at least a funny story when you said it like that, but the meeting of those three ponies had been long planned.

Radiant Beam, the youngest of the group, if she was going by how the others looked, felt more than out of place. She had been a student of Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns from very small age and after graduating, she had taken the job of a magical researcher at the Royal Canterlot Institute for Magic. While her family did not come from a long line of noble ancestors, they did own a proper estate in the better parts of Canterlot and made more than enough for their eldest daughter to pick a job that followed her greatest passion: Learning more about magic. At some point, Radiant Beam might have envied Twilight Sparkle for her position as Princess Celestia's personal student and her access to all those rare books and tomes, but that changed quickly after Twilight Sparkle had found the Elements of Harmony and now had to face a dangerous mission or a villain every other week. And ever since Twilight Sparkle had turned into Princess Twilight, that had only increased the level of danger and travelling, all while Radiant Beam could stay in Canterlot, where it was safe, comfy, and where she could find all the books her heart desired. In her own humble opinion, Radiant Beam had gotten a way better deal than Twilight Sparkle.

Of course, being a royal researcher came with certain expectations. While most of the time, Radiant Beam was free to study whatever her heart desired, there were times when she had to work on specific projects. Those were never too bad and gave her a chance to meet other like-minded ponies with the same interests as her, but sadly, some of them involved travelling. Like this one.

It wasn't that Radiant Beam hated travelling, it was just that everything was so much nicer and more convenient in Canterlot. But, as a royal researcher, she could only pass on so many projects before risking her position at the institute, as minor as it may be. Especially since she had basically been hoof-picked for this particular mission, as it matched her fields of expertise nearly perfectly.

And so, Radiant Beam was forced to travel. But instead of a one-day-trip in and out of Canterlot, or instead of a conference with a comfy hotel room she could hide in until the event was over, she was forced to take a train to the Crystal Empire. As fascinating as the location was, according to her books, Radiant Beam never even thought of roaming this far away from Canterlot, out of Equestria even. The train ride took almost a whole day and even a reclusive scholar like her didn’t like being cooped up in a small cabin that long. Even if the institute had booked her a private cabin with all necessities.

The Crystal Empire looked even more stunning than her books had made her believe, but none of her books had mentioned that it would be so cold. It made sense when she thought about it, since the empire was surrounded by the frozen tundra, but she had expected that a magical artifact that protected the city from endless winter would also provide a comfortable temperature.

Not that the other ponies she saw seemed to mind much. The crystal ponies she saw when she left the train station were all smiling and happily going their way, nopony had a jacket or even a scarf, which made her shiver even more in comparison. Of course she didn’t complain, that would be unbecoming of a well-versed researcher like she was. Especially considering that instead of some inn, the institute had managed to get her located in a room in the prestigious Crystal Palace for the duration of her stay. With all amenities, as it turned out.

And so, after a night in a luxurious bed and a gorgeous breakfast, Radiant Beam now found herself at the northern edge of the empire, waiting for her new assignment that would hopefully not take too long. She thought that the central city had been cold, but here just a few feet away from the magical barrier that kept out the everlasting winter storm outside, she realized how wrong she had been. Her two companions didn’t seem to mind as much as she did, since they were just standing there in stoic silence, and waited.

Radiant Beam threw another careful glance at the two stallions. The pegasus pony had a short, military mane-cut and a steel-blue coat. He didn’t seem bothered by the cold at all, since pegasus ponies had a higher tolerance by nature, but his cutie mark was a whirlwind, which meant he was probably used dealing with rough weather.

The earth pony was the tallest of the three and he had the bulky build of a working-class pony, not that Radiant Beam minded of course. She knew that ponies like him had a relevance so that ponies like her could focus on deciphering the mysteries of magic. It was just that she usually didn’t get much into contact with those ponies. The earth stallion looked like he was in his late thirties and his cutie mark was a big pumpkin, which easily identified him as an agriculturist. It confused Radiant Beam to no end.

She could understand why a pegasus with a specialisation in extreme weather situations would be required, but she couldn’t for the love of Celestia figure out why the project required a farm worker.

Since the two didn’t talk, Radiant Beam waited silently with them. There was nothing much to look at anyway, since outside the barrier was a blizzard so thick that she could barely see more than a few feet. Instead, she turned around and looked at the city in the distance, which was a far more breath-taking view. That also meant she was the first one to see the group of ponies that approached them.

Radiant Beam had just arrived the other day and other than a few polite words with the palace staff, she hadn’t talked with anypony else. She had been sent here to start working on the project, but the two ponies didn’t seem like they would be the ones who could help her either, so all her expectations rested on the new arrivals. She could see that one of them was a unicorn, so she was about to meet the pony in charge soon.

However, as they got closer, and Radiant Beam could see more details, she realized that the unicorn seemed to follow the other two, instead of leading them. The mare in front was a pale blue pony with a pink mane, set into an orderly bun, and she was clearly a crystal pony by the way her coat sparkled in the spare sunlight. The stallion who walked next to her was a crystal pony as well, even though he was wearing a hat, which seemed strange. Radiant Beam hadn’t seen any form of clothing on any other crystal pony so far, but then again, she had only been in the empire for a day, so her sample size was limited.

The three ponies were still too far away so that Radiant Beam couldn’t identify anything except the colour of their coats, but her eyes stayed on the unicorn. She, like the other two, sparkled in the sunlight, which could mean only one thing. The unicorn was a crystal pony at the same time, which meant that the mare could only be Crystal Note, the crystal unicorn.

Of course, Radiant Beam had heard about her. Despite never having set a hoof in their facilities, Crystal Note was a hot topic at the Royal Institute for Magic. Crystal Note was the only crystal unicorn and, if rumours were to believed, she had become so through some form of magical transformation. Every researcher worth the salt in their veins would give everything they possessed to get a chance for a project, an experiment, heck even an interview with her. There were so many implications from so many departments, transfiguration, magic history, abstract magic, social and psychological studies, biochemical, neural, anatomical… the list went on and on.

But, for whatever reason, Crystal Note shunned the whole institute. She didn’t want to be a part of experiments, so she selfishly denied everypony else the chance to learn so much. Could she not see that she could be the key to the next magical breakthrough? But instead, the crystal unicorn spent her days with music. Radiant Beam liked music as much as the next pony, but some things were just more important than a passion for music or a concert. Radiant Beam could only wonder how some ponies could be so inconsiderate and selfish.

While Radiant Beam was still mulling about the implications that the crystal unicorn was involved in this project, the three crystal ponies reached them. The mare was clearly in charge and took the lead right away

“Good morning everypony and thank you for making it here this early. I suppose you took the chance and already made yourself familiar with each other?”

At this, the earth pony and the pegasus looked at each other, before the latter answered

“Well, we have, but the little miss here hasn’t said a word since she arrived. Didn’t react to anything we said to her either.”

Radiant Beam blushed to the brightest shade of red that was possible for her yellow coat. She had been lost in thoughts, as it happened occasionally, in fact she had not even noticed that the other two had talked to her.

The pegasus started laughing to take the edge of the situation, and the others chimed in politely. Radiant Beam tried to look shameful and get her blush under control. The crystal mare in charge must have noticed that she needed a minute, because she eloquently took the lead of the conversation again

“In that case, why don’t we start with introductions? My name is Rose Quartz, and as head of the Crystal Council, I represent the crystal ponies of our Empire today. This project has drawn a lot of attention and it’s in all our interest that it turns out successful. With me, I brought Copper Dime who is the head of the newly formed merchant’s guild.”

The stallion lifted his hat in greeting and nodded with a welcoming smile

“Pleased to meet you all. Since the Crystal Empire has deepened its connections with Equestria recently, we’ve formed the merchant’s guild to try and help trade and exchange between both kingdoms to grow and prosper. This project is hopefully just the first step of very many.”

Radiant Beam, with her blush under control, silently wondered why the merchant’s guild would be interested in a magical project. As such, she nearly missed that everypony was looking at her now, and she quickly bowed her head to hide another blush

“Radiant Beam, magical researcher of the Royal Canterlot Institute for Magic. I’ve been sent to assist to the fullest of my capacity.”

The pegasus laughed again, but there was no edge in it whatsoever

“A unicorn with her head in the clouds, eh? Sounds like my kind of pony. Name’s Stormy Skies, specialist for extreme weather situations. I’ve arrived last week already and talked with the boss, so I let him tell you what we came up with so far.”

Radiant Beam forced her features to remain neutral, but her mind rattled in surprise. If Rose Quartz wasn’t in charge, who would the boss be? She glanced at Crystal Note, the crystal unicorn, from the side of her eyes, but to her ultimate surprise, the earth pony now cleared his throat and started talking

“Um, well, good morning everypony. I am Harvest Moon, and I’ve been the one who first came up with this little, or maybe not so little anymore, um, with this project.”

Radiant Beam stared at him in pure disbelief. He wasn’t an eloquent speaker, but that wasn’t what bothered her. After all, many of the researchers were poor speakers, with their minds constantly occupied by other important stuff. She couldn’t get over the fact that an earth pony farmer would be the ‘boss’ of a magical research project.

Harvest Moon didn’t really know how to deal with all the attention on him, so he started walking

“I think it would be easier to show you than explain all of it. It all started as a small idea, but with the help from the crystal ponies we were able to achieve quite a bit already.”

The others, including Radiant Beam, followed as Harvest Moon talked and led them to a farm. There was no other term for it. It wasn’t a vegetable garden, it was far too big for that. It also had the same structure as a small farm would have, with one big field in the centre and several smaller ones orientated around it. There was even a small shed which held typical farming tools. Radiant Beam just stared at it. Had she really been called from Canterlot to the Crystal Empire for a farm?

She almost missed when Harvest Moon kept talking

“With the population of the Empire growing again, they can’t rely only on crystal berries and imports from Equestria, so I’ve been trying different sorts of produce that would work. So far, I’ve been focussing on grains since flour is an essential part of feeding a nation.”

Radiant Beam nodded along with the others and Harvest Moon pointed at the different fields

“There’s a type of grain the farmers in the north-west sow out in late fall when harvesting is almost over. It’s aptly called ‘winter wheat’ since it can take an early frost and still grow through it. It can also grow in ground with less-than-optimal mineral value, and most importantly it takes a lot less water. Hails in less produce than regular wheat, but I figured ‘less produce’ is still more than nothing at all.”

Radiant Beam listened as he explained working with different forms of fertilizers, compared growth rates and produce expectation and so on, while pointing to the different fields

“So as you can see, we need at least 55% of produce retainment with an estimated 10% of repurposing rate to regrow new crops the next year, and by using crop rotations in a three year cycle, we can estimate to increase the produce by around 30% which then results into an annual expansion of field size by at least 15% in the first ten years.”

Radiant Beam nodded, after crunching the numbers she just heard in her head, and concluded that Harvest Moon must have been using a rather conservative model to extrapolate his numbers. Usually, in projects like these, it was common to shoot a little higher, so investors were more likely to fund the project, but Harvest Moon wisely decided to rather lower expectations and then surprise with higher success rates.

Since nopony else said anything, Radiant Beam pointed at the last few smaller fields Harvest Moon hadn’t mentioned yet

“And what are these for? Control groups, I assume?”

Harvest Moon nodded and explained

“I’m still trying to figure out the best amount and kind of fertilizer. You see, the soil in the Crystal Empire has quite unique proprieties that need to be put into consideration.”

Radiant Beam was not a geologist, or a botanist, but she knew enough to follow Harvest Moon’s explanations of nitrite levels and how the mineral-rich ground contributed positively in certain aspects. She nodded along and glanced at the others who all seemed to just daze off when Harvest Moon went into more details. Radiant Beam frowned and let out a silent sigh. She knew that look from most of her family, whenever she told them about the projects she was working out. They didn’t really understand and just kept listening because it was polite, but they could never contribute to a real discussion like her colleagues. Poor Harvest Moon must have been frustrated all on his own here, with no fellow scientist to bounce ideas with.

And suddenly, Radiant Beam’s eyes snapped wide open. Harvest Moon was still going, obviously pleased that he had somepony who understood his theories for a change, and Radiant Beam just shouted out her clearest realization

“You’re a scientist!”

The others blinked as they woke up from their daze and glanced between the two. This time, it was Harvest Moon’s turn to blush

“Well, um, I guess, in a way, I am. I don’t have a fancy diploma on my wall like you have it no doubt, but I’m pretty well read when it comes to botany, and I know my way around a sliding rule. I’m more of a researcher, I think.”

Radiant Beam gave him another look over, and her surprise apparently dimmed down her sense of tact, and just had her blurt out the next-best thing on her mind

“I would have never guessed. You look just like every other farm pony.”

The others stared at her, and Radiant Beam realized how that might make her sound, and she felt her cheeks glow up immediately. However, Harvest Moon just laughed heartily

“Oh, I know my way around a plough just as much. You don’t grow up on a farm and not be a farmer, but I just liked learning as much as I enjoyed growing and harvesting.”

The others joined in their laughter and finally, Radiant Beam felt comfortable enough to ask what had been on her mind for days now

“It seems like you have done excellent work to this point, so why did you need help from the Institute all of a sudden?”

The other four ponies now nodded along, as the scientific babble was over, and Harvest Moon nodded and started explaining

“I was getting to that. You see, right now I’m limited to the size of my fields, because for once I’m only a single pony. It doesn’t matter how fertile the ground is or how resilient my crops are, if I can’t water them properly.”

Stormy Skies and Copper Dime agreed and now chimed in

“So far, all the watering of the fields has happened by hoof. Sadly, because of the frozen ground, the only good places for wells are within the city limits, where the Crystal Heart manages to thaw the water a few dozen feet below ground. But if we want fields that can someday nourish the crystal ponies, they need to be big enough. Which means they need to be out of the city limits.”

“We filled barrels with water and hauled them out here with carts, but it’s barely enough for one small field. We need more.”

Harvest Moon tilted his head with a thoughtful expression

“And we’re just talking about the robust winter wheat fields now. If the Crystal Empire wants to be self-sufficient, we need to differentiate the crops. We’ll need grass for hay, root vegetables like carrots, beets for sugar, just for a fundamental sustain. If we want to do more than the bare necessities, like fruit or vegetables… it all depends on finding a reliable source of water.”

And finally, Radiant Beam knew why she had been hoof-picked and sent to this mission. She turned around and looked at the endless blizzard in the distance. Her eyes found Stormy Skies, and the pegasus nodded and summed up what she thought

“We have plenty of water out there. We just need to get it more accessible for everypony.”

Radiant Beam nodded and understood

“Rain. You want to bring rain to the Crystal Empire. You want to introduce a weather system, like every town in Equestria has had for hundreds of years.”

Rose Quartz and Copper Dime shared a look with each other

“We’ve never had rain before. We’ve been living like this for eons, and it was never even a thought for us. But we’ve been discussing it a lot in the council, and with our fellow ponies. Times have changed, and we need to be a part of this change. We’ve already opened our city to trade, visitors and even new citizens from Equestria, but this will be the biggest change so far.”

Rose Quartz focused on Radiant Beam and Stormy Skies

“If you think it’s even possible. We’ve had ponies say that in theory, it should work. But it’s up to you to make it actually happen.”

Stormy Skies nodded and put a hoof to his chest

“I know it will work. Clouds are condensed water, no matter where they come from. If I can turn a thunderstorm into a harmless rainfall, there’s no reason why it shouldn’t work with a blizzard.”

Radiant Beam agreed, and for the first time Crystal Note actually said something

“This is a wonderful chance for the two kingdoms to grow further together. If you need anything to accomplish this task, please let me know and I will ask for the resources from Princess Cadance or Princess Celestia in Equestria, if necessary.”

Radiant Beam blinked, somewhat confused

“You won’t be working in this project with us?”

Crystal Note smiled and shook her head

“I don’t think I could be of much help with weather magic. I’ve been asked to fill in as an ambassador for the Crystal Empire and an advisor for the Crystal Council.”

She must have shown some of her disappointment, because suddenly Stormy Skies slammed his hoof against her shoulder

“Chin up! I know we can do it! Come on, time to get busy.”

Despite everything, Radiant Beam could still smile.

It turned out that before any ‘getting busy’ could take place, there was a lot of talking, discussing, and calculating to do. Stormy Skies remained on his stand that a blizzard could be transformed into rainfall, and in general Radiant Beam could agree. Weather, in almost every form, was basically just the right amount of water mixed with the right kind of air to produce clouds. Whether that water came from a lake, from a weather factory in Cloudsdale, or in this case from a blizzard, shouldn’t matter. Snow and ice were still made of water from a scientific point of view.

The devil, like so often, came in the details. Since the blizzard was not made of manufactured snowflakes out of a weather factory but had formed from the natural condensation and the freezing cold of the surrounding tundra, knowing how much water would be in these clouds was a rough estimate, at best. As she learned from Harvest Moon, they had to aim at a rather precise amount of rain for optimal results. Too little rain, and the crops couldn’t grow as well. Too much, and they would risk drowning the crops or washing the soil away with the seeds.

Radiant Beam did a quick calculation and while Stormy Skies agreed in general, he was sure that ‘stuff like that can’t be calculated’. According to him, it all came down to experience. Experience they could only get from tests with actual weather.

Which led them right to the next problem. Even if Stormy Skies could eyeball it and form the right amount of rain, they had to get that rain past the barrier of the crystal heart. The protective barrier was, according to Radiant Beam, selective permeable, meaning that only certain things could pass it. Air, light, sound, ponies and even trains could pass it without any problems, but the snow and wind from the blizzard couldn’t, which was a paradox in itself. Pony bodies contained a lot of water, just like the snow was made of water, so there was no reason why one form of water could pass, but the other couldn’t. To make things even more confusing, Harvest Moon was able to carry in a bucket of snow from outside back into the barrier. Radiant Beam’s theory was that the barrier reacted to his magic, since everypony carried a natural small magical current inside their bodies. Maybe if the water came in contact with the magic from a pony, it was able to pass the barrier. But then, air didn’t have to be imbued with pony magic and could still pass through the barrier, so her theory was flawed.

All three ponies had to admit that they were out of their dept with this one. Stormy Skies just wanted to go for a try, but Radiant Beam and Harvest Moon insisted that it would be too dangerous. In theory, if the storm was what made the mass of water held back by the barrier, Stormy Skies might accidentally ‘lock himself out’ as Harvest Moon called it. Neither pony was willing to take that kind of risk.

The three crystal ponies stayed around, but they didn’t get too involved into the scientific discussion, most likely because they wouldn’t understand much of it. Which was fair, as Radiant Beam had to admit. She didn’t know anything about leading a country or regulating trade, which was why she wasn’t a councillor or a merchant, but a magical researcher instead.

However, if she had learned anything from her surprise with Harvest Moon, it was that sometimes ponies weren’t just what they looked like. Harvest Moon was a tall, muscular stallion who could probably lift Radiant Beam with one hoof, but he also had a sharp mind that could compete with Radiant Beam on all levels. If he had been introduced to the Institute as young as Radiant Beam, she had no doubt that he would be one of their leading researchers by now. However, she couldn’t really see him as a desk pony in Canterlot. He fitted right in here where he was, helping a struggling nation on its long way to recovery, which was a very noble goal in itself, as Radiant Beam could admit without hesitation.

Radiant Beam watched the three crystal ponies, and her eyes kept lingering on the crystal unicorn. Crystal Note didn’t talk much more over the course of the day, but she stayed attentive and could get the gist of things even without a formal education. Radiant Beam knew, like every researcher at the Institute, that Crystal Note had received her horn during late adolescence, so the natural learning of magic that any colt of filly had in their early childhood was completely missing. Still, Crystal Note had learned enough about magic that she could use it instinctively, like when she levitated things in her magic. What made her learning different than for other unicorns was basically that Crystal Note had to balance the usually passive magic of a crystal pony with the active magic that unicorns applied when they used their spells. In this aspect, she was unique, and since nopony could explain exactly how, she had to just figure out certain spells on her own.

Radiant Beam’s eyes opened wide and she stood up so suddenly that Harvest Moon stopped in mid-sentence to look at her. Excited, she called to the group of crystal ponies

“Crystal Note, we need your input! Could you please explain how the barrier works?”

Crystal Note met her eyes, in same parts confused and embarrassed

“Um, I don’t really know how it works. I know it is a lot like a shield spell, but that’s about it.”

Radiant Beam waved her hoof, impatient now that she had a lead

“We know that, but even unicorns with a specialization in shield spells and protective magic couldn’t really figure it out. Because in the end, they are just unicorns, and the crystal heart is a crystal pony artifact.”

The others were watching her attentively now, while Crystal Note’s brow furrowed into a frown

“I still don’t know what you’re getting at. Why do you need my input out of all ponies?”

Radiant Beam waved her hoof towards the city

“I could ask any crystal pony about the crystal heart, but they couldn’t give me the answer I need either. While they understand crystal pony magic instinctively, they couldn’t break it down so that a unicorn like me could understand it.”

She grinned and pointed her hoof at Crystal Note

“But you can! Because you’re both! You know enough to grasp the crystal pony magic, but your unicorn magic means you can see it differently than any other crystal pony. If you tried to explain it, I might be able to understand and use that knowledge for our project.”

Crystal Note watched her for a whole minute, and Radiant Beam could see the doubt and hesitation. To her surprise, Copper Dime the merchant came to her aide

“Crystal Note, I think it’s at least worth a try. We could help a lot of ponies if we can figure this out. If Radiant Beam thinks you can help, you should give it a shot.”

Crystal Note exchanged a glance with the councillor and Rose Quartz also had an encouraging smile for her. She then closed her eyes and focused. The others watched her closely, but only Radiant Beam could tell what was happening. While too faint to be a visible glow around her horn, Crystal Note was reaching to feel for the magic in the nearby barrier. Radiant Beam had tried so herself but with no result, the magic was just too foreign, and she couldn’t gain any understanding of it. Crystal Note however seemed to be naturally attuned, which made sense since she was a crystal pony as much as she was a unicorn, so Radiant Beam waited patiently.

Crystal Note kept her eyes closed, but after a few minutes she started to talk

“Crystal pony magic is all about emotions. The crystal heart is fuelled by the light in the hearts of the crystal ponies, everypony gives a little bit of their light to the heart. Being near the heart always feels like coming home, it just feels naturally right to be here. It is warm and the warmth of our hearts is what keeps the cold of the north away from our home. And it’s safe. Everypony feels safe in the Crystal Empire, because there is nothing to be afraid of inside. The barrier is the safety of the crystal ponies. It’s our desire to keep our home safe and to protect the ponies we love. And it’s hope for our children, so they can grow up safe and so they don’t have to be afraid.”

Crystal Note opened her eyes and looked at Radiant Beam, although her eyes had a far-away look in them

“I’m sorry, but… it’s very hard to put to words. I don’t have all the right words to explain everything… I don’t think there are even words for some of it.”

Radiant Beam inclined her head to a nod

“I understand. I think I got the gist of it. Basically, the crystal ponies want to protect their home, so they channel this through the crystal heart, and it creates the barrier.”

Crystal Note frowned and tilted her head

“It doesn’t feel right the way you say it, but… it’s not wrong, I think. It’s like you try to explain how a song is supposed to sound, but all you do is read the notes out loud. There’s so much more to it, there’s rhythm and melody and tempo and… and…”

“Intent!”

Crystal Note blinked but Radiant Beam hopped to her hooves and started pacing up and down

“That’s it! The crystal ponies want to keep their home safe, but it means different things to every pony. What’s the same though is their intent to do it! That’s what keeps the barrier up! And that’s what lets some things pass through and not others. It’s their intent!”

The others looked between each other, but Stormy Skies summed up what they were all thinking

“I think you need to run that again for us, Radiant Beam.”

She nodded and pointed to the barrier

“As it is now, the barrier lets air and sunlight pass without any restrictions. Both of those are natural and beneficial to the ponies, so there is no harm letting them in. But wind or storm is just another form of air, and it won’t get through, but why? Because it’s not beneficial to the Crystal Empire, that’s why!”

Harvest Moon now looked at the clouds and the bucket of water

“The snow from the blizzard is dangerous for the crystal ponies, but the water in my bucket is not.”

“Yes! That’s why the blizzard can’t get it, but your bucket can pass no problem. You carried it in with the intent to be beneficial for the Empire and the ponies. Just like the train carries in ponies and goods that will help the empire, or at least they intend to help. That’s why they can pass through the barrier despite their mass and density being higher than that of snow.”

Crystal Note now got up as well

“Arctic bunnies can walk in and out of the Empire, but arctic wolves are kept out by the barrier. That doesn’t make sense when you think about it, both are animals, why would the Crystal Heart make a difference?”

“But there is a difference! Arctic wolves are potentially dangerous for ponies, and they try to enter with the intent to hunt and hurt other creatures.”

Rose Quartz nodded and rubbed her chin

“And the crystal ponies know that. We’ve all been told stories when we were foals to beware of the wolves. Or don’t go out of the barrier because the storms are dangerous. So, if the barrier feeds of how everypony in town feels…”

“… then that’s where we need to start. We need to convince them that rain isn’t dangerous, but beneficial.”

Radiant Beam smiled and nodded

“That’s it! If we are certain that we can change the blizzard into a rain shower…”

“Which we are” added Stormy Skies with a determined nod, that was mimicked by Radiant Beam “… then we just need to explain the crystal ponies that rain is good for them. That shouldn’t be hard, right? Just call in an assembly and tell them. They will believe it when weather experts from Equestria tell them, along with a councillor.”

Rose Quartz, Copper Dime and Crystal Note looked at each other, and Radiant Beam could see that their coats suddenly stopped shimmering. She turned around and saw that Harvest Moon suddenly had a troubled expression, while Stormy Skies just looked as confused as she felt

“What’s wrong?”

She looked at the crystal ponies, but when none of them answered, Harvest Moon spoke up

“It’s not going to be as simple as you hope it will be. The crystal ponies, they don’t have the greatest record with ponies from Equestria. I’ve been here for weeks and they are still wary off me. And I’m not even a unicorn.”

“What does this have to do with being a… unicorn… oh.”

Radiant Beam turned to the crystal ponies and saw pained expressions on all of them. At the same time, their coats dulled down as they lost all their shine. Crystal Note turned away so nopony could see her horn, which was a gesture that showed Radiant Beam exactly what she would be facing in the city

“I… I wasn’t aware that… it’s been so long, and I thought…”

Rose Quartz stood up, but Radiant Beam could see that the friendly smile she had was fake

“We understand, Radiant Beam. But you need to remember that for us, it’s not been a thousand years. It’s not even been a decade for us, and the times we faced were bitter and terrible.”

“I know the war was terrible but…”

“Not just the war.”

Copper Dime spoke up, and the friendly expression he had donned all day was gone without a trace

“You ponies from Equestria don’t know anything. We’ve been suffering for years before the war even started. We lost so much, lost so many before the first soldier from Equestria even set a hoof in our lands. You couldn’t possibly understand.”

Radiant Beam looked helplessly to her companions from the south, but Stormy Skies and Harvest Moon seemed out of their depth as much as she was. She turned back to Rose Quartz who still forced a smile that felt more and more poisoned

“I’m terribly sorry. I… I speak a lot without thinking, and I never meant to insult you. Please forgive me.”

Rose Quartz sighed and shook her head

“There is nothing to forgive, Radiant Beam. In a way, it is good that Equestria can’t remember. It is good that there’s a whole nation of ponies who are smart and positive and willing to help us. But we’ve been living by our own traditions for a very long while. And we never changed.”

“And when we did, we nearly lost everything. Because we listened to one pony. This rain business, it’s a bigger change than even the Dark King forced upon us. Ponies will not like it, and they won’t agree.”

Crystal Note stood up and turned to face Copper Dime

“This won’t be a change that is forced upon them. They will be the ones who make this decision. If it comes from them, they will feel different about it.”

Copper Dime exhaled deeply, and his expression softened up again

“Yes, that’s what I hope. It will be a load of work to convince everypony.”

Radiant Beam looked around and towards her colleagues

“We’ll explain it. Ponies fear what they don’t understand, right? We will explain our plans and when they understand, they will see it’s a good idea.”

Crystal Note and Rose Quartz exchanged a look, then Rose Quartz nodded

“It’s a start. They know that Harvest Moon is doing something out here, but nopony bothered to ask for details. And a few ponies from Equestria are now living here for a couple months now, they can help them understand.”

“We need to take this to the council and Princess Cadance. Anything to convince as many ponies as possible.”

Copper Dime looked at the three ponies from Equestria

“They need to get to know you as well. They won’t trust strangers from outside the Empire, but if they know you better, they’re more likely to give you the benefit of the doubt.”

Radiant Beam turned back to the barrier and shook her head

“We need to make some tests first. It’s still a theory, and I’m convinced it’s correct, but we need hard data to prove it. I’m sure Harvest Moon and I can think of some simple experiments.”

Stormy Skies nodded and flexed his wings

“I’ve been moving through cities all my life. I know how to mingle and get ponies thaw up to a stranger. You do your science stuff and I’ll work on that for now.”

Everypony nodded and Rose Quartz turned to Crystal Note

“Maybe we can give Radiant Beam a tour? She needs to understand what we’re dealing with.”

“Of course.”

Harvest Moon got up and walked back towards his fields

“I still got work to do here for now. I’ll see you tomorrow!”

Radiant Beam nodded, but suddenly felt all the excitement from early leave her just as quickly when she realized what that meant. She would have to stay in the Empire for several more days, maybe even a week. She sighed deeply but she could smile when she saw the first sprouts of wheat in the sun. It might be hard, but this project could very well be the most important project she ever worked on.

The walk back into the city happened in near silence. Stormy Skies had flown off on his own, leaving Radiant Beam to follow the three crystal ponies. It was hard. Crystal Note, the crystal unicorn, the one she wanted to ask so many questions, was right there. But, in the current situation, she knew it was impossible to do right now. She knew enough about the social norm of crystal ponies to tell that. All their coats were still dull, lacking their typical shine and sparkle, which resulted from their state of distress. A distress she had caused, unintentionally of course, but she still felt responsible to some degree. Radiant Beam was a scientist first, but rudimentary social skills had to be expected from her. She should have studied the social norm of the Crystal Empire and she should have known when she was barrelling into a touchy subject.

To her surprise, their mood visibly improved as they reached the limits of the city. She could almost count the sparkles that reappeared with each step, slowly at first but quickly increasing. If she had the time, she could probably draw a graph over distance and luminescence, and she was pretty sure it would pan out in an exponential growth.

While Radiant Beam performed some quick calculations in her head, her eyes kept wandering along the street. From the type of buildings she saw, she had to guess that this was once an industrious district of town, as she saw long halls and workshops predominately. The only buildings that seemed fit for households were two-story houses that could hold either one very large or at least two normal-sized families. She could not be sure however, as all the buildings stood empty. Nopony was working anywhere and even though the houses were in good condition, Radiant Beam didn’t see a single sign that of anypony living here. It seemed strange that the whole district had been rebuilt after the destruction of war, only to leave it abandoned like this.

Radiant Beam did not ask about this, since she was afraid she’d fall into another pit-hole of social disaster. Instead, she focused on the three crystal ponies as they walked through the empty street between the empty buildings.

Rose Quartz, who once more walked up front, so Radiant Beam could only watch her backside, had an even strait in her step. She walked in an even pace with just the right speed. She didn’t walk slow and thoughtful as she watched the buildings in reminiscence, but she also didn’t walk too fast, indicating she felt scared or appalled and wanted to get away as soon as possible. She walked at just the right speed, with purpose and direction, steady and steadfast, like a leader was expected. Radiant Beam couldn’t see her face, so she had no idea if Rose Quartz really was as composed, or if she was just putting on a face for everypony, but if she did, it would be nearly impossible to see the difference just from the way she walked.

Crystal Note on the other hoof wore her heart on her fetlock, so to speak. She had her eyes closed a lot, just following the sound of Rose Quartz’ hooves on the street. On the few occasion she did open her eyes, she just looked sad. Her eyes roamed for a moment, then she found a detail that meant something to her, and changed her expression into sadness and sometimes regret.

Copper Dime was the complete opposite. He was constantly seizing up everything around him, but he did so in a very busy manner. Almost like he was taking stock of everything that was there and plotting plans on how to best set it to use. He didn’t look very happy, but he had none of the heart-clenching sadness of Crystal Note.

All of this changed when they reached inner districts and encountered more ponies. Rose Quartz now stopped her purposeful walk whenever a pony approached her, and like a good leader, she took time for each of them and listened attentively, even if most of them just wanted to share some idle chatter.

Copper Dime broke apart from the group a couple times, whenever they passed a shop or workstation, almost like a merchant who wanted to check on his goods. He talked to a couple ponies as well, and they were left smiling after his encouragement.

Crystal Note smiled, nodded, and waved to the ponies she saw, and most of them returned the gesture, but not much more. Only a few did more and approached her for some quick words. Like all day, Crystal Note barely said anything, but whenever somepony came to speak with her, her smile lit up a little.

The streets got busier as the group followed the street that led them in the general direction of the palace. More ponies, more waves, and more words. Radiant Beam noticed that she was drawing in some attention as well, but since she couldn’t figure out how to best deal with this, she said nothing and fell into a polite smile. It seemed enough for the moment.

The shrill sound of a bell caught her attention and had her turn her head around in search of the source. There was a big building, but very flat, only one story tall, with a wide space around it that separated this building form the rest of the street. Also, it seemed like multiple streets were directed towards this odd building, which was clearly the source of the bell noise.

Radiant Beam had a good guess what she was looking at, and the sounds of young voices only affirmed her theory. As the bell stopped ringing, the front door opened and a small herd of foals with happy cheers ran out of the small school.

She had been so focused on identifying the school that she nearly missed that Crystal Note had started running. For the first time this day, she walked in front, past Rose Quartz, and now approached the school with a happy spring in her step. The small herd of foals, just fifteen fillies and colts, saw her and changed directions towards her. It was a bit hard to tell their age, but Radiant Beam had to guess that they were between five and seven years, give or take a few months. It seemed strange, far too spread out in age for all of them to be in the same class.

Crystal Note didn’t seem to care, and she called out a ‘Hello’ that was louder than anything Radiant Beam had heard from her all day. Two identical fillies spread from the class and ran ahead, and got caught in a hug from Crystal Note, which they reciprocated in kind while they nuzzled the taller mare. It was a nice, heartfelt moment to watch and stood in stark contrast to the abandoned district Radiant Beam had just left behind.

The fillies were released, and the class caught up and now surrounded the mare, who smiled and listened as the foals babbled away, laughing with them and shared a few words in kind. Crystal Note was all smiles now and even though her voice didn’t carry all the way to where Radiant Beam was standing, she clearly had the attention of the entire class. Crystal Note sat down on the ground, with one of the fillies from before snuggling into her flank, while the other foals sat in front of her, watching and listening with rapt attention as Crystal Note talked.

“They adore her. And why wouldn’t they? Crystal Note is patient and kind, and she sings for them and tells them stories.”

Radiant Beam looked to the side and saw that Copper Dime was doing the same as she did, which was observing Crystal Note and the class of foals. He had a strange smile, and Radiant Beam realized that this was actually the first time she had seen the stallion smile. She couldn’t dwell on that right now and instead focused on what he was saying

“Many ponies are still wary of her these days. Because of the past, of who she had been and who she has become since. But with the children, she never had those problems. I wish some of the grown-ups would learn from the children when it comes to that.”

Radiant Beam felt of the importance of what Copper Dime was saying, but she could not find an appropriate response. Instead, she tried to keep the stallion talking while also sating her hunger for valuable information

“This class seems rather small for a city this big. How many other schools are in the Crystal Empire? Did you split the area into school districts? Is every school teaching the same curriculum or do you have specialisations for each district?”

It would make sense. Just like Canterlot had Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns which specialized in magic, there might be different schools in the empire. That would explain the small size of foals in this class.

“There is only one school in the Crystal Empire. And as it stands, we're happy we at least have this one.”

Radiant Beam tore her eyes away from the class and stared at Copper Dime, eyes wide open in disbelief

“But, it’s so small. It can’t be enough for every foal in the Crystal Empire. There are so many streets and houses, there must be dozens of classes.”

“As it stands, we only have two classes: One for the older foals who had been born before the long curse, and the one you see right now, for our youngest.”

Radiant Beam stared at the fillies and colts, and started counting in her head, almost involuntarily

“But… but that would mean…”

Rose Quartz let out a deep sigh and closed her eyes

“The hunger, the war, the cold of the Frozen North… it cost us dearly, and the crystal ponies paid a high toll. Today, our nation counts just barely more than 200 crystal ponies. It’s almost too little to keep the Empire running. We have soldiers from Equestria bolstering up our crystal guard, and we need to buy many wares from Equestria we had been able to produce on our own once. Even the school is barely functional, with only three teachers and a headmaster.”

She couldn’t help but run the number through her head over and over. 200 ponies were less than lived in a typical street in Canterlot. From the size of the city, only a small percentage of the available space was even used, and it took so much effort to keep everything in shape, that there wasn’t really any time for economic growth. That’s why the Crystal Empire invited ponies from all over Equestria to come and live here. And that’s why it was so important to get the farm running. Without food, a nation could not even begin to grow.

But it was more than just that. With 200 ponies, with only two classes of children, there was barely any space for cultural growth. Many of the traditions of the Crystal Empire would fade away, simply because not enough ponies were around to upkeep any of them. With only three teachers, education was limited, and potentially incomplete. Radiant Beam had had more than a dozen different teachers in Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, but here every teacher would have to cover multiple subjects at once, and probably couldn’t even cover more than the basics. For a mare like Radiant Beam who prided herself from her education, it was a sharp sting to her heart.

“Why… why didn’t you ask for help? Equestria could have sent you books for your students and additional teachers. Maybe even help you build a bigger school. Education is very important, after all.”

Rose Quartz turned around to face her again, with a big frown on her face

“More important than making sure everypony has a warm home? More important than feeding everypony? More important than our own identity?”

Radiant Beam sensed that same tension from earlier again in those words, so she hesitated to answer. Instead, Copper Dime spoke up

“The Dark King used his school to teach our children his truths. Any pony from Equestria would do the same. We don’t want our children to learn Equestrian truths and forget our own. We are not just another city of Equestria, we are the Crystal Empire. We still got some pride left in us, and we won’t let Canterlot take it away from us.”

This time, Radiant Beam did flinch when she heard the sharp accusation in his voice

“I didn’t mean… it was never my intention… I didn’t mean to imply that you couldn’t do it on your own. I just meant that you could get some help if you just asked.”

“Well, maybe we don’t need help!”

“But we do, if you’re honest, Copper Dime. We both know it, even if you don’t want to admit it.”

Rose Quartz sounded tired when she said this, like she had had this talk with Copper Dime many times before, and Copper Dime’s only response was a roll of his eyes.

Radiant Beam didn’t know how to react, or if there even was a right way to react. Instead, she just stayed silent, and the conversation just stopped. Copper Dime was brooding, and Rose Quartz watched the foals from the school class, but she looked very tired as she did. The foals hadn’t noticed anything, they were enchanted by the story they heard from Crystal Note, but the mare did throw a concerned look towards Rose Quartz as she was talking. Radiant Beam felt more and more uneasy with being here. She had come to help the Crystal Empire, but at this moment she wondered if she could even offer the help the crystal ponies needed.

The constricting silence was broken by a collective pout from the foals. Obviously, Crystal Note had finished her story and now sent them home, but they didn’t seem too disappointed because they were laughing again as they wandered off in groups of two or three. Only the two fillies from before stayed around and followed Crystal Note as she approached Radiant Beam and the others. Radiant Beam noticed that they were indeed identical twins, except for one little detail: One of them already had a cutie mark.

“We can continue our tour right away, I’ll just have to take the girls home first. You can come along if you like, Radiant Beam.”

Her “Yes!” bubbled out faster than she could think, and she gladly followed the mare away from the lingering tension.

She barely even noticed where they were going as her mind still circled around what Copper Dime had said to her. She didn’t really listen to what Crystal Note and the fillies were talking about, and she didn’t notice that one of the fillies, the one without a cutie mark, was watching her curiously the whole time.

What made her snap back to awareness was the sudden stop of Crystal Note in front of her

“Remember girls: Homework first. Glass Slipper will be home in about an hour to look after you.”

The fillies giggled and nodded before they headed into the biggest house of the street. That in itself wasn’t too out of the ordinary. But when one of the fillies called out “Bye Mommy!” to Crystal Note, Radiant Beam’s eyes snapped to the mare and her mouth hung open.

Crystal Note just smiled and started walking down the street, but after a minute she winked to Radiant Beam

“Go ahead and ask. It’s okay.”

Radiant Beam just blushed but her curiosity won out in the end

“I, um, I didn’t know you had foals.”

Crystal Note nodded, but her sad smile threw Radiant Beam off once again

“It’s been a recent development. A couple of months ago, there was a very bad accident in the mines. Two ponies died. Their parents. I’ve been taking care of them since.”

Immediately, Radiant Beam’s ears flopped down ashamed

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…”

“It’s alright, Radiant Beam. There is no way you could have known.”

Even though Crystal Note said it was alright, Radiant Beam could see it wasn’t. Somehow, the harder she tried to avoid situations like this, the more they happened. She tried to supress a groan, but Crystal Note must have heard it anyway, since she turned towards her and asked

“Is something bothering you, Radiant Beam?”

“No. It’s just, I’m trying to be tactful, but whatever I say, it seems to be the wrong thing. I try to avoid any touchy subjects but…”

“It’s impossible.”

“Yes, that's what it feels like.”

Crystal Note shook her head

“No, you misunderstand me. It is literally impossible. Everypony you meet will have a tragic story to tell. There isn’t a single pony who didn’t lose a sibling, or a parent, or at least a few good friends. You can’t avoid it. Even Princess Cadance lost her parents at a young age. It is the story of our Empire, sad as it may be.”

Radiant Beam stared at her with wide open eyes

“But then, what can I do? How I can talk to anypony if everything I say reminds them of something sad or painful?”

Crystal Note shook her head again, with a sad smile

“You can’t avoid it. And you can’t make it undone. But you can listen, and you can try to understand. Even if you won’t understand everything, ponies will notice that you’re trying. And they will appreciate it.”

Radiant Beam thought about this for a whole minute, before she nodded. Nopony expected her to have all the answers, but they expected her to help. But she could only help if she knew how to help. She had to understand the crystal ponies and where they came from better, before she could even start talking about rain and weather to them.

And the sooner she started, the sooner she’d see some progress. So she turned to Crystal Note and despite her determination, only a shy whisper made it out

“You said, every pony has a tragic story to tell. Does that mean, you too…?”

Crystal Note sighed and nodded

“Yes. Although some ponies might argue that I had it better than them. I lost my mother when I was nine years old. She had been born with a sickness to her heart, but under the Dark King, we couldn’t get any medicine for her. My father was killed by King Sombra’s dark soldiers, five years later. I couldn’t save him, there were just too many. All my sister and I could do was watch.”

Crystal Note looked up and glanced down the street they were walking in

“Tell me, what do you see here?”

Radiant Beam looked around, but she couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary. They seemed to be in a residential district of the city, but like before, none of the houses seemed to be used

“It’s just an empty street.”

“Yes, exactly. This is the street I grew up in. And now it’s just empty.”

Radiant Beam didn’t know what to say, but she remembered what Crystal Note had said earlier, so she just nodded and kept listening. Crystal Note had more to tell, as she pointed at one of the houses

“My friend Anvil used to live in there. He and I, we were the fastest runners of the whole empire. We’d play catch as foals, and nopony could keep up with us. Later, we stole food from the soldiers, and we were faster than them. They could never catch us.”

Radiant Beam looked at the empty building and tried to imagine what it might have looked like with ponies living inside, but she couldn’t. Instead, she just asked

“What happened to him?”

Crystal Note tore her gaze of the house with a deep sigh

“Somepony told King Sombra’s guard where they’d find him. Probably against their own will. It happened a lot, when the Dark King was using his magic to mess with a pony’s mind. But at that point, I was already gone.”

Radiant Beam’s ears perked up a bit

“Did you escape from the Empire?”

Crystal Note’s expression turned from sad to pained, but she didn’t stop talking

“That’s what most ponies think. Fact is, I tried to run away, but I failed. I was lured into a trap and ran right into King Sombra. Somehow, I could resist his dark magic, at least enough for him to lose his temper. Then he did something to me, and I was gone, almost ten years before the Crystal Empire vanished as well.”

Radiant Beam ran the information through her analytical mind, and her eyes opened wide

“You mean he cursed you away? Before everypony else?”

Crystal Note nodded absently

“That’s what Princess Twilight Sparkle assumes. I don’t really remember what happened that night. All I know is that everypony thought I had abandoned them for ten years, even my sister.”

Even though Radiant Beam would have loved going deeper into the magical mystery of Crystal Note’s disappearance, she knew that now was not the time for this. Crystal Note was more agitated than she’d been all day long, and she still had things to tell

“Things only kept getting worse in the Empire. Everypony had to suffer for ten more years. So much pain, so many ponies were lost, and I wasn’t there to help. I didn’t even know it had happened. So when I came back, everypony thought of me as a traitor. And on top of all, suddenly I also looked like this.”

She gestured down her body, but Radiant Beam kept looking at her horn. It was the thing that separated her from everypony. The Crystal Empire had a bad record with unicorns, and now Crystal Note was one of them. Not only did she skip out on the most terrible time right before the war, but it also seemed she got rewarded for doing so, since she gained the magic of a unicorn somewhere along the way.

Crystal Note didn’t notice any of the thoughts in Radiant Beam’s head, she kept walking and they passed another empty house, where a family once lived, with a filly that had been Crystal Note’s age before the curse. And another one, where a young couple once dreamt of someday having foals of their own. Radiant Beam couldn’t do much but listen as Crystal Note told her stories she would never hear from any history book or research paper. She could learn of some of the struggles the ponies had to go through, but like Crystal Note had said, she could not fully comprehend them. She had grown up in peace, safety, and prosperity. With an immortal ruler like Princess Celestia, the kingdom of Equestria was a stable nation, and long-running projects had been set in motion eons ago, some even centuries. With the return of Princess Luna, and the ascension of Princess Twilight Sparkle, progress was in leaps and bounds.

In stark contrast to the Crystal Empire, where everything seemed to be in ruins and shambles. Radiant Beam wasn’t an expert, but she’d read enough books to know that the growth of an entire nation was way more difficult than just fixing some houses and sending some goods. And now it seemed, she was to be in the middle of it, somehow.

Radiant Beam tried to listen, but at some point, her thoughts wandered away from all the tragedy Crystal Note had to tell. It seemed there was no end to them, and they hadn’t even reached the end of the street yet.

She looked up again, when Crystal Note stopped and turned around to look down the street. Radiant Beam had noticed during the day they spent together, that Crystal Note’s mimic wasn’t very expressive, but still she could see the sadness in her crystal eyes. Until they closed, and Crystal Note fell back to her preferred method to express herself, as her melodic voice rang out in a sad tune

When we were young the future was so bright
The whole neighbourhood was so alive
And every kid in the whole long street
Was gonna make it big and live their dreams

Now the neighbourhood is cracked and torn
The kids are grown up but their lives are worn
How can one little street
Swallow so many lives?

Chances thrown, nothing’s free
Longing for, what used to be
Still it’s hard, hard to see
Fragile lives and shattered dreams...

Her singing just kind of petered out, but Crystal Note kept humming the tune when they walked back towards the centre of the city. It wasn’t too hard to realize that this was her way of coping with her sad memories, so Radiant Beam kept silent and just walked along.

The streets got busier again, and here in the residential part of the city, all the houses seemed in better shape. Radiant Beam saw flowers in pots on windowsills, a pony sweeping the sideway, a few mares with baskets chatting idly. After all she had heard and seen, it was almost comforting to catch a little glimpse of normality.

Crystal Note and Radiant Beam drew in a lot of glances, as she noticed. Some of those probably came from her being new, but she could guess that her unicorn horn was responsible for some of the frowns she saw along the way. Crystal Note returned the few waves she got and told Radiant Beam a few facts about the city, but nothing she hadn’t read about in books or reports before. Still, she kept following Crystal Note’s advice from earlier, and she kept listening.

When they reached the market, a group of mares called out for Crystal Note, and joined them unceremoniously. One of them even pulled Crystal Note into a quick hug, then Radiant Beam was introduced and learned the names of the mares as well.

Of course, conversation circled around her mission and her presence in the Crystal Empire. Apparently, Harvest Moon’s farming efforts had been the talk of town for a while, and now that things were set to progress even further, each mare seemed very interested. Radiant Beam didn’t say much, she was more interested on what the mares had to say, and soon they started debating the news among themselves

“Well, I think it’s clear that Princess Cadance wants this project to work, seeing that she even called for more outside-help. I’m not sure if it’s for the best, though.”

“What do you mean? How could growing our own food be a bad thing for anypony?”

“It’s not a bad thing, but it’s the way Princess Cadance wants to do it. We’ve been doing fine before, right?”

One of the mares shook her head vehemently

“And that’s where I think you’re wrong. We survived on our own, but we didn’t ‘do fine’. Remember when we all thought it was normal that a mother would lose her foal during a harsh winter? How many foals died since Princess Cadance opened the new hospital? None, that’s right. Now imagine we could grow our own grain, how much food we’d have, and how many foals we could feed.”

“Aquamarine, I understand why you would feel so strongly about it, and the hospital is a great gift for all of us, but it just doesn’t sit right with me. If we only imitate what we are shown by Canterlot, we risk losing our old ways.”

The youngest of the mares, the one who had hugged Crystal Note on arrival, now spoke up

“I understand what you’re trying to say, Silver Sterling, but here’s a chance to make it our way. If we just let Harvest Moon do his thing, it will be his thing, but if we take part of it, we can forge a new way for us. I think it’s good that the council gets involved.”

“But aren’t you worried that we would lose all our traditions along this new way? The way it looks, we’re not an independent nation anymore, we’re just a colony for Equestria. Soon the Sun Princess will come and claim our Empire as for her nation.”

A few nods ran through the group, but the young mare from before shook her head

“That’s not how I see it. If Equestria would want to turn us into one of their cities, they wouldn’t help us as much. They would make us reliant on their food and make us dependent on their deliveries with their trains. They would send us flour, not grain. They would send us medicine, not teach us how to treat patients. They wouldn’t send us ponies to help and teach us. It’s up to us to use that now, how we think is best.”

By now, nearly all the mares agreed and nodded, but one of them turned to the only mare who had not said a single word yet

“Crystal Note, you know Equestria and you know the Crystal Empire. What do you think?”

All eyes on her, Crystal Note had a calm, practiced smile

“I think it is an opportunity for all of us, Amethyst. We need to make the most of it now. I don’t say we give up all our traditions or we do everything like Equestria would do it. What I think is most important, is that we do it for the right reasons.”

The mare from before, Silver Sterling, spoke up again

“And what would be the right reasons, Crystal Note?”

“I think whether we stick to our tradition or choose a new path, we should always ask ourselves how what we do will affect our children. When we were young, we were always hungry and always scared of something. If we can create an Empire where our children can live with even a little less fear, I think that’s the way we should go.”

As if on cue, all the mares’ heads turned to the other side of the market, where some of the foals from the school were playing some ball game. Radiant Beam watched their happy, carefree smiles as they just enjoyed their day, blissfully oblivious to the worries their parents had. She had to agree with Crystal Note: Keeping those smiles alive seemed like a worthy cause for anypony.

I live my life as a humble mare
Who sings her songs
Who tries to see rights from wrongs

I’m inspired by the younger ones
Their happy songs
And what is my tradition

Hoofsteps on the street will leave an echo
Their voices and their laughter even more so
Anger and our fears we all just let go, we let go
Thinking of the children of tomorrow

So what you’re really working for?
Are you working for the children of tomorrow?
Tell me what you’re singing for
Sing with me and with the children of tomorrow

The mares around her giggled when Crystal Note started singing, seemingly out of nowhere, and Radiant Beam understood that this was probably a common thing for them. Like before Crystal Note kept humming the melody when she didn’t have any lyrics anymore, while the mares around her switched to less severe topics to chat over.

The ball game seemed to be over by now and a few of the foals came running, which dispersed the group of mares as they walked home, while Radiant Beam followed Crystal Note towards the palace. To her surprise, Crystal Note walked in with her and led her through the corridors

“You’ve seen and heard a lot of things today, Radiant Beam. Most of them weren’t that pleasant, so I want to make sure you end on a good thing at least.”

Radiant Beam followed Crystal Note up a long set of stairs, so long that she wondered how far they could even go. In the end, they led them to the top of the highest tower, just like Radiant Beam had expected. What she hadn’t expected was the breath-taking view.

From high up, everything she saw glittered and sparkled. The sun was setting, and the last lights of the day made every house, every roof, and every street shine in a different colour it seemed, like the many facets of a brilliant gemstone. It was beautiful beyond any words, so Radiant Beam said nothing and just watched in awe as the lights shifted. From this high up, she couldn’t make out many details, but the images of what she had seen today filled in for her. She could see the ponies as smallish dots, moving from the market and through the streets, back to their homes, and as the sunlight faded, lights from their homes made the city sparkle in a softer shine, but not any less beautiful.

And then, from the centre of the city, a new set of lights started to glow brightly, and travel up into the sky. Radiant Beam gasped as from the Crystal Heart, the aurora of the Northern Lights rose into the sky, so high and bright that even the ponies in far-away Canterlot could see them now. As she watched the Northern Lights, she recognized many of the colours and hues from the lights she had seen in the city. They were a part of the Crystal Empire, a part of the crystal ponies and any pony living here. Their traditions, their compassion, but also their hopes and dreams, all seemed condensed into the ethereal light that glowed in the sky.

Radiant Beam didn’t know how long she was watching, but she knew one thing: If there was anything to preserve these lights, and the ponies they represented, then it would be worth any amount of effort and work.

After a while of watching the lights and the glittering city, Crystal Note guided her back to her room in the palace before she said goodbye for the night. Radiant Beam wanted to thank her, for everything she had shown her today, but she didn’t find the right words. Crystal Note didn’t seem to need those though, she just smiled kindly and walked down the hallway, then she was out of sight.

Radiant Beam stepped into the room and saw that somepony had prepared dinner for her, but food was the last thing on her mind now. With her magic, she picked up her trusty quill and started pouring notes down on stacks of paper. She was sent here for a mission after all, and finally, she knew how to start.

After a long night of work and only a couple hours of sleep, Radiant Beam stumbled into a dining room where she met her mission colleagues again. Harvest Moon, like any farm pony, was already up and ready at the brink of dawn, but Stormy Skies looked like he shared her opinion on early morning meetings. Wordlessly, he pushed the large pot of coffee towards her, and Radiant Beam greedily drank a cup. Fortunately, the crystal ponies loved their coffee just like she did, piping hot and so strong that her eyes just popped open.

Soon she was awake, at least enough to take part in their conversation

“So, what’s the situation?”

Stormy Skies grumbled and reluctantly shared his findings of yesterday

“They’re all nice and friendly, the whole bunch of them. Not hostile because I’m a stranger or a pegasus, but they don’t trust anypony who’s not their kin. Smalltalk and stuff, sure, but barely anything more. There’s a few who seem a little more open, but far and in between.”

Harvest Moon nodded and sighed

“Yes, that’s my impression too. They are all friendly and they will answer your questions as best as they can, but no more. It’s been like that for me, for weeks now.”

Both stallions turned to Radiant Beam, who seemed more thoughtful than yesterday

“They are very cautious towards anything they don’t know. They don’t want to be blindly afraid, but too many bad things happened already, so they are wary. To them, it feels like we are just another invasion, only without spears and shields this time, but with technology instead. They don’t like that.”

Harvest Moon knocked his hoof on the table

“But, that’s not the case! We are here to help. To make things better. If we don’t change anything, nothing will ever improve.”

Stormy Skies tilted his head

“That’s how we see it. I bet if you’d ask them, they’d say something like ‘If we don’t change anything, nothing will get worse either’. That’s the point.”

Radiant Beam nodded in agreement

“That is the point. Any change has to come from them. We can’t force it against their will, and frankly we can’t do it without their help. We need to do more than just tell them what to do, they need to understand the why and how and make their own conclusions.”

The stallions nodded and Harvest Moon asked

“And how do you say we should do this?”

Radiant Beam just smiled

“I have a couple of ideas.”

The Crystal Council only counted seven members, but somehow Radiant Beam felt as nervous as if she was doing a speech in front of a whole crowd. Maybe that was because those seven ponies stood for an entire nation, and after the tour from Crystal Note, she now had faces and images to back up what the Crystal Empire really meant to them.

Rose Quartz, as head of the council, informed everypony of their project. They knew about the small farm already, but most of the details were still missing. Harvest Moon told them about his numbers and the projected growth of his farm. The Council nodded, but they didn’t go too deep into details. They of course asked about problems, and found the watering problem.

Radiant Beam took a deep breath and explained her theory about the barrier that protected the Crystal Empire. She explained how a weather system worked in general, and how she thought it could be implemented into the Empire. Stormy Skies chimed in with some details every now and them, but the Council remained silent.

They got a little more agitated when Radiant Beam told them about the barrier and her theories. Like Crystal Note, Copper Dime and Rose Quartz before, they didn’t understand all the magical implications, but they could feel that her theory was probably right, out of an inner clarity only the crystal ponies could have.

When Radiant Beam finished her explanations, they started talking with each other for a couple of minutes. Rose Quartz didn’t say anything and let them discuss the matter for a while, but then she called them back to order

“These are news we didn’t know before, and that we had never learned without help from Canterlot. But now it’s important to decide how we deal with it. The way I see it, we have only three possibilities: First, we stick with trying to water the fields by hoof. We would need a lot of ponies for that, and even more if we want to increase the size of fields. Also, the way I understood, the expansion of our farms would be slowed down considerably.”

She looked to Harvest Moon and Radiant Beam for conformation, who both nodded, so she went on

“The second option: We work on building up a weather system. That means, we need to find more weather pegasus ponies in the future, and most importantly, we need the general consent from everypony. The barrier will only allow it if everypony agrees that it’s for the benefit of the Crystal Empire. And it would fall to us to convince them.”

Most of the ponies nodded, but a few stayed sceptics. One of them asked

“And what’s the third option?”

Rose Quartz put her hoof on the table and it clicked on the crystal surface

“We quit. We stop the project here and now, and we keep buying our food from Equestria. And we hope that Equestria stays as generous as they are now, and that Equestria never gets a meagre harvest or anything that would make them less likely to keep sending us food.”

It was obvious, even to Radiant Beam, what Rose Quartz thought of the last option. A glance to the other councillors told her that they didn’t think much differently. A few more mumbled words ran through them, and the one who had asked before speaking up again

“And how can we convince everypony?”

Rose Quartz shook her head

“No. First, we need to be of the same mind. They will ask of our opinion, and we can’t stand divided. Either we all agree, or we can’t in good conscience expect anypony else to follow our recommendation.”

Radiant Beam cleared her throat and caught everypony’s attention back to her

“Actually, we already had an idea about that…”

The next day, Rose Quartz and Radiant Beam walked into the school building where they were greeted by the headmaster and led to one of the classrooms. The headmaster wasn’t that old yet, if Radiant Beam had to guess he had to be about Copper Dime’s age, but he was clearly worried

“Are you sure this is a good idea, Councillor? These foals are still young and impressionable.”

Rose Quartz just nodded with determination

“And that’s why we need to teach them before they hear any rumours. If they learn about the weather and rain, they won’t have any reasons to be afraid of it in the future. And maybe, if their parents see that the foals are not afraid, it will help them as well.”

Radiant Beam nodded along, but she couldn’t hide the fact that she was very nervous. It was her idea to take this to the school, but now that the time had come, she was suddenly very aware that she had never spoken to a class of young students before. She wasn’t really a teacher, so she could only hope she wouldn’t mess this up.

The headmaster stopped when they reached a certain door

“We’re almost ready. We’re just waiting for our final visitor today.”

Radiant Beam wanted to ask who he was talking about, but then she heard voices from behind her

“I’m so sorry we’re late. Have you been waiting already?”

Radiant Beam turned towards the voice and saw Princess Cadance and Princess Flurry Heart walk up to them. While she just stared baffled, the crystal ponies bowed their heads when their princess approached, and the headmaster answered

“We have just arrived, Your Highness. You’re perfectly on time.”

Princess Cadance and the headmaster exchanged a few pleasantries, which gave a chance Rose Quartz to explain to the baffled Radiant Beam

“Princess Flurry Heart usually gets schooled by private tutors at the palace, but she has joined this class for lessons before. She asked to join today's lesson as soon as she heard about it.”

Radiant Beam nodded and tried to swallow down the giant knot she felt in her throat

“I just hope I will perform adequately. I'm not a teacher and holding a lesson for a member of the royal family...”

“I'm sure you'll do great!”

Radiant Beam blinked and looked at the young princess who was smiling up to her. She had not even noticed that Princess Flurry Heart had approached her, but the filly didn't seem to mind. Radiant Beam couldn't help but notice that the youngest member of the royal family looked at her with bright and curious eyes, just like the foals she had seen earlier had them. And just like the crystal ponies of the Empire, Princess Flurry Heart also had this light in her eyes that seemed to intensify everything she felt, especially when she was smiling. In the joy and light of those eyes, Radiant Beam felt all her worries just evaporate like morning fog in bright sunlight.

Radiant Beam returned the smile and bowed her head to the young princess

“Thank you for your confidence, Your Highness.”

“Flurry Heart.”

“Pardon?”

Radiant Beam blinked confused while everypony around her chuckled. Princess Flurry Heart pointed to her head

“You're new so you don't know, but when I'm not wearing my tiara, I'm not 'Princess' or 'Your Highness', just Flurry Heart. Okay?”

Radiant Beam smiled and bowed her head

“I’ll do my best to remember.”

“Great! I’ll go say Hi to my friends now, see you in class!”

And just like that, the alicorn filly slipped past her and into the classroom, from where Radiant Beam could now hear some calls and excited whispers. She turned around and saw that everypony else was watching her now, including the Princess, with a knowing smile

“She really is a very special filly, isn’t she?”

Radiant Beam nodded

“She has a very… inspiring presence.”

Princess Cadance laughed gently at this

“That’s one way to describe it. Now, you better start your lesson, before she ‘inspires’ too much mischief in class.”

Radiant Beam, now not the least bit nervous anymore, opened the door and walked in front of the class while the headmaster introduced her. She looked at the class and saw two dozen of colts and fillies stare up at her, not in fear or worry, but in curious excitement.

“Good morning, everypony! Today, I’d like to tell you all you need to know about rain and weather…”

Radiant Beam was exhausted by the time she left the school building. Though not as exhausted as she had expected. The fillies and colts had all been very well behaved and genuinely interested, some to the point of giddy excitement. Flurry Heart’s presence helped a lot, since the alicorn filly already knew some about weather magic and pegasus magic. There had also been a few foals from the families who had moved to the Crystal Empire from Equestria who could chime in with little bits of wisdom and knowledge.

Radiant Beam wasn’t sure if any of the foals could pass a test on her lesson, but the main goal had been achieved: All the colts and fillies who left the classroom were not afraid of rain anymore. If they had ever been afraid in the first place.

Her second class with the older students had been a little more difficult. First of all, they were all crystal ponies, but most importantly, they had seen the terrors of King Sombra with their own eyes. Maybe they were not as present as with some of their parents, but they were still lingering behind every timid question the students dared to ask.

And again, Radiant Beam was pleasantly surprised that one of the fillies seemed to know the basics of how a weather patrol worked. As it turned out, she had a pen pal who was a weather pony in Vanhoover, and the students from her class listened attentively when she tried to explain some of the things she knew. Radiant Beam then picked up when there were more questions and explained how the Crystal Empire could benefit from having a weather system of its own.

As she expected, the students didn’t get as excited as their younger classmates, but they didn’t seem overly worried either. Radiant Beam convinced herself that this was a success, overall.

When Radiant Beam left the little school, she saw Crystal Note waiting for her, together with the mares she had met the other day. Radiant Beam gave her best polite smile, but with all that has been going through her mind, she had to admit that she couldn’t remember any of their names. To her relief, they didn’t get a chance to talk much, as the students streamed out of the classrooms as well and demanded the attention of their parents. Radiant Beam smiled as she watched Crystal Note and the twin fillies from earlier, and how excited they were to tell her about what they learned today.

“Do you really think this is going to work?”

Radiant Beam just barely kept from flinching when she heard a voice, just a whisper, close to her. One of the mares stood next to her, so close that she hoped nopony would listen in. The mare’s eyes flicked up, and Radiant Beam realized she was looking at her horn, but just for a moment before she stared right at her. The mare had some hard lines around her eyes, which shone in fear and worry, so very unlike what Radiant Beam had seen from the foals.

Since she didn’t get an answer, the mare asked again, more urgently this time

“Do you really think this is going to work?”

Radiant Beam cleared her throat before she whispered back, trying her best to not gather any attention

“What do you mean?”

“What that stallion said, what Lieutenant Sentry from the guard said… what the council said. Is it going to work? Can you bring us more food?”

Radiant Beam guessed that ‘the stallion’ the mare talked about was probably Harvest Moon, and she had no idea who Lieutenant Sentry was, but that didn’t matter right now. She focused on the mare who looked at her, almost desperately at this point, and put as much confidence into her voice as she could

“My colleagues and me, we can help. We’ll do everything we can to help, but we can’t do it alone. We can show you and teach you, but ultimately, you’ll have to take over and make it happen.”

The mare listened and nodded, but the worry wouldn’t leave her eyes

“I’ve never heard about this… rain, before. Is it dangerous?”

Radiant Beam hesitated for a moment before she could answer. It would be easy to act confident and just say ‘No, of course not.’ Then the mare would believe her and stop to worry, maybe even tell others the same. But it just wasn’t that simple. These ponies deserved the full truth before making a decision that would impact their lives, their whole world even, and the world of their children.

“Rain isn’t that much different than snow. Snow makes everything look pretty, and you can have snowball fights or build snowponies, but if you stay in the snow too long, you might catch a cold, or get frostbites. Rain can help you grow crops, but too much rain can cause floods. Like too much sun can give you sunburns or cause a drought. None of those things are dangerous by themselves and they can be beneficial in the right amount.”

The mare nodded, visibly less worried, but still with a thoughtful expression

“And how do we make sure that we only get the right amount of rain?”

“The barrier of the Crystal Heart helps you keep out the blizzards, it will also help you with the rain. And, of course, there are pegasus ponies who can help you with their talent for weather.”

Radiant Beam made sure to call it a ‘talent’ for weather, and not weather magic. It really was the same, but it would keep the crystal mare on edge if she called it magic.

Now instead, the mare nodded again, though Radiant Beam could see that many more thoughts were running through her head. After a few moments, she turned back to her

“I feel like I’m only having more questions now that I talked to you. Would it be okay if we talked a bit longer?”

Radiant Beam went for her best smile

“Of course. I’ll try my best to answer any questions you have, no matter how many there are.”

The mare clearly appreciated as she now smiled. She began walking towards a street that led deeper into the city, but she looked back and expected Radiant Beam to follow her. Radiant Beam glanced towards Crystal Note, who had been watching. Crystal Note smiled encouragingly and nodded, so Radiant Beam followed the mare who already had new questions for her.

It wasn’t very hard to find the way back to the palace since it was the tallest structure by far and could be seen from anywhere in the city. It wasn’t very hard to find the way back to her room either. Which was good, since Radiant Beam was so deep in thought during her way back, that she had to rely on her hooves to find the right path.

The mare, Silver Sterling, wasn’t kidding when she said she had even more questions. Radiant Beam was taken to one of the houses in a lively street of the city, and Silver Sterling had her sit in her living room and served her a cup of tea. It wasn’t the greatest cup of tea she ever had, but it was hot and sweet, perfect against the cold of the Frozen North. Silver Sterling wasn’t hostile towards her, even if she stayed cautious as they talked. Radiant Beam told her all she could about weather magic, but at some point, their serious discussion had turned into harmless small talk. Of course, as Radiant Beam had learned, no small talk in the Crystal Empire was ever harmless, or meaningless, but at this point she had some practice in listening and letting Silver Sterling say what she needed to say.

Silver Sterling didn’t talk about the war, or the time before. She talked about her family. Her husband was a craftspony, a metalsmith to be exact, as had his father been and his father before that, and so on. But the Crystal Empire under King Sombra had not needed artisans, so in order to survive, and to help Silver Sterling survive, her husband had forged weapons instead. Some of the spears the Crystal Guard still used today were of his design. Many of the crystal ponies knew that he had ‘supported’ the Dark King with his work, and therefore shun his family. Then again, if he had not obeyed King Sombra, he would not have a family at all. Silver Sterling was one of the few mares who did not have to bury her foal during the darkest days.

Radiant Beam listened and said nothing. She didn’t have any right or experience to judge Silver Sterling and her family. She didn’t know how she would have acted back then, or if she could have been as strong as Silver Sterling. She was lucky that she never had and probably never would face times like these.

Her husband walked through the room at some point, but he didn’t say anything. He just looked at Radiant Beam for a long moment, then headed back to his workshop. Radiant Beam could hear the hammering, metal on metal, from behind the house. The oldest son, Radiant Beam had forgotten his name, but she had seen him at the school earlier today, was quick to follow his father, also without a word.

A big sigh broke out of Silver Sterling

“He’s very worried, these days. He wants to keep up the family tradition and teach his art to his son, but who needs weapons these days? The Crystal Empire is still recovering from the last war they faced, and according to Princess Cadance, Equestria has been at peace for centuries now. He’s trying to work on other things, but he’s been forging spears and swords and knives for so long, it’s all his hooves know these days, he says.”

Radiant Beam nodded, but finally she had something she could tell Silver Sterling as well

“My uncle, he’s a member of the royal guard. There isn’t really any fighting going on in recent years, but the Princesses still keep the guard for its presence, mostly. My uncle has never been to war or used his spear besides training, but he still has one for standing guard at official buildings like the palace, or for parades. He says that the spear he has isn’t really much of a weapon anymore, it’s just an ornament. A piece of art if you will.”

Silver Sterling listened attentively, and there was a wry smile on her face when Radiant Beam finished

“Weapons as art? It seems the world has really changed a lot over one thousand years. I wonder if he knows about this…”

“Perhaps you could ask Prince Shining Armor about this. He was a captain in the royal guard, before he married Princess Cadance, so he would know.”

Silver Sterling had looked at her, thankful but also surprised. She was still looking at her like that when the time came for Radiant Beam to leave. At the door, she asked her the question that kept her thoughts busy all the walk back to the palace

“There might be more questions later. Will you be there? Will you stay?”

Will I stay?

Now, hours later and after mechanically putting some food into her mouth for dinner, Radiant Beam sat on her bed and still mulled this question over in her head.

Of course she would have to stay for a while longer. They still had to prove her theory right with a field experiment. She might have to stay to write a report on everything, for Princess Cadance and for the institute. But after that?

Getting a weather cycle up and running was hard work, but it was pegasus work. Growing crops and expanding the farm was hard work as well, but it’d be up to Harvest Moon and the crystal ponies, who had to learn how to do it by themselves. Not her work either. By all accounts, her time in the Crystal Empire was measured in days, not weeks or months. Then she’d be back in Canterlot, in her warm little home with her books and her usual routine at the Institute. Just the way she liked it.

There was absolutely no reason why Silver Sterling’s question should throw her off balance, but somehow it did. And for once she didn’t even have a good explanation why.

After a surprisingly good sleep, Radiant Beam found herself back at breakfast with Harvest Moon and Stormy Skies. While Harvest Moon had been working on his little farm, Stormy Skies had had some success talking to the crystal ponies in town. Apparently, he found a tavern and got talking to some of the ponies over drinks. Not everypony was as scared as the ones Radiant Beam had met during her first walk through town.

The stallions Stormy Skies met had also heard from the lessons at school, either from the foals or from neighbours and friends who had foals, and he had spent half the night confirming what the foals had learned, and dispelling the odd rumour that popped up.

From what they could tell, everypony was talking about weather, but nopony had any reason to panic over it. In general, Radiant Beam counted that as a success for the project overall. Stormy Skies seemed to think so as well, and his high spirits even thawed up Harvest Moon. Soon enough, the two stallions exchanged stories of their homes, while Radiant Beam enjoyed another cup of hot coffee.

To their surprise, they weren’t the only ones in the dining hall today. The days before, the crystal ponies had left them enjoy their meals in privacy, but today, some ponies of the palace staff and some of the guards, as Radiant Beam was guessing, joined in as well. They kept a polite distance at first, but when they picked up that Harvest Moon, Stormy Skies and Radiant Beam were talking about weather, they joined them at their table (which was too big for only three ponies anyway).

They had some questions of course, many that either Radiant Beam or Stormy Skies had already heard before. When they got their answers, they started talking about it among themselves. A few rumours popped up, of course, but the palace staff seemed a lot more open-minded than the mares Radiant Beam had met.

After a couple of minutes, the topic changed completely and Stormy Skies had to explain how if felt to fly, and Radiant Beam was asked to demonstrate her magic. As it turned out, the crystal ponies were rather curious, and they enjoyed the chance to talk with some real ‘Southerners’, as they called them. For Radiant Beam, it was a refreshing change of pace.

Soon after breakfast, Harvest Moon, Stormy Skies and Radiant Beam were taken to the meeting room and the Crystal Council. The seven ponies seemed less hesitant today, and Rose Quartz confirmed what Radiant Beam had already guessed

“Our ponies are talking about ‘this new weather thing’ in every street. There are some sceptics, of course, but overall, what I’ve heard was promising. They don’t know all the plans we made yet, but the prospect of producing our own food let many ponies jump over their own shadows. The lesson at school did the job to make everypony think about it. Now it’s up to us to convince everypony who’s still in doubt. Assuming we are all of one mind about this project?”

The six remaining councillors nodded, even Copper Dime who had been reluctant the last time Radiant Beam had talked with him now seemed eager to push forward. He asked for more details from Harvest Moon and wrote them all down, and he was the one who wanted to do a test run with Stormy Skies right away. It seemed strange to Radiant Beam, but a pony had the right to change his mind of course.

For the rest of the day, Stormy Skies, Harvest Moon, the council and Radiant Beam prepared charts, graphs, and sketches, in preparation for the big meeting Rose Quartz had scheduled later that day. Every pony in the Crystal Empire, every crystal pony but also all the ponies who had moved here and now called the Empire their home, would be there. If they wanted their support, they had to gain it during the meeting. Radiant Beam knew that if they wanted to get a chance, this was their time to show it.

The meeting hall inside the Crystal Palace was crowded. It was hard to get an exact count, but from what Radiant Beam could guess, nearly all the crystal ponies were present, except the youngest foals. Also, mingled in between the groups of crystal ponies, she could see some earth ponies and a few unicorns. These ponies had moved to the Crystal Empire from Equestria, some with their families but others on their own. She could only see one pegasus stallion, in a guard uniform. That had to be Lieutenant Flash Sentry, who had been in the Empire the longest, together with Sunburst, the unicorn crystaller of Princess Flurry Heart and her private tutor.

The ‘southerners’ mingled with the crystal ponies more or less successfully. One of the earth pony mares chatted easily with a few other mares, most likely about their foals (who all shared a class in the little school). A few ponies on the other hoof sat among themselves and didn’t talk to anypony. Still, the air was humming with voices and even Radiant Beam could feel the tension.

She was glad of the presence of Rose Quartz who stood next to her, a pillar of calm in a sea of voices. Rose Quartz was chosen to represent them all, but she stayed down to earth and relatable. Just the kind of leader that the crystal ponies needed in uncertain times like they were for the Empire.

So it was no surprise that everypony stopped mumbling as soon as Rose Quartz cleared her throat to get their attention. Since everypony already knew why they were gathered that night, Rose Quartz didn’t waste any time and got right on point, using almost the same words she had used earlier on the council meeting.

After her, Harvest Moon took over and explained his plans for the farms and an expansion of farms in the near future. Spring Meadow helped by showing charts that helped visualize what Harvest Moon was explaining. She flipped through the charts with her magic, and she made sure to have her horn glow bright and steady all the time. She probably could have moved the charts with far less effort, but that had been something one of the unicorn citizens had shared with her before the meeting. The crystal ponies were still wary of magic, mostly because they didn’t fully understand it yet. So whenever she would use her magic, she would make it clear and obvious for everypony to see, in hope that the bright glow would be less intimidating to them than watching objects that would move seemingly on their own, manipulated by a near-invisible force.

And it seemed to work, as far as she could tell. Ponies were watching her horn when it lit up, but after the third time she changed the charts, most of the crowd only glanced at her before they focused back on Harvest Moon. By the time Harvest Moon was finished, they almost expected the bright glow that flipped the charts to the next one.

Then she took over from Harvest Moon and explained weather. She used clear and simple words, much like she had in her lessons at the school. It wasn’t so much that she didn’t expect the crystal ponies to understand, but she didn’t want to overwhelm them with a brand-new concept of something they had never known before.

Stormy Skies backed her up at certain points to explain some technicalities, and when he did, she always took the chance to get a read on their crowd. The crystal ponies paid close attention to everything, but their expressions stayed neutral. That was probably as much as Radiant Beam and her colleagues could ask for. It was, in any case, better than the fear and worry Radiant Beam had seen on her earlier trips through the city. If it came from the fact that the children had lost their fear of weather, or if this was because Rose Quartz and the Crystal Council backed up their plans, Radiant Beam couldn’t really tell. In the end, it didn’t really matter what had helped, she decided for herself, the important thing was that it had helped.

When they eventually finished, the mumblings started again, everypony talking to the pony next to them. A few small groups formed and broke the rows of seats that were lined up. Crystal Note had one of those groups form around her, even if Radiant Beam could see that she barely said anything. Rose Quartz gave everypony a chance to process what they just heard, but before long she called the meeting back to order.

Because, of course, there were questions. Radiant Beam had expected them, as had all the others. The first question was about the Crystal Council’s standpoint, and the seven councillors exchanged a quick glance, before Copper Dime walked to the front to give an answer. Although Rose Quartz was the leader of the council, Copper Dime had more experience in dealing with Equestria. Also, he had been involved in Harvest Moon’s project from the start, and while he supported the project, he had been the most sceptical about involving pegasus ponies and weather magic. Radiant Beam knew that most of the crystal ponies knew about this, so his voice would have the most impact on them as he exclaimed his support and why he thought having a weather system would be beneficial.

Coming from Canterlot, where politicians often used far too many words and kept their statements intentionally vague, Radiant Beam felt pleasantly surprised on how honest and straightforward these things were handled here in the Crystal Empire. Even the Royal Canterlot Institute for Magic was not free of political games and dodges, but Radiant Beam preferred this system a lot more.

The next few questions centred around Princess Cadance and her opinion on having a weather system. It seemed strange that the princess was missing from a meeting like this, in fact none of the royal family was present, but in a way, it made sense. The Crystal Council had a full veto on any decisions of Princess Cadance, and vice versa. Having Princess Cadance here would give the ponies the chance to hear about her opinions straight from the source, but it would also mean that the princess could potentially influence the decisions in her favour. This way, anything the assembly would decide tonight would come from them, and their consensus meant the consensus of every citizen. Which was crucial for the success of the weather system, after all.

Then, finally, the technicalities started, and Radiant Beam felt more at ease. She took turns with Stormy Skies and Harvest Moon to explain every little detail of their theory and their plans. It felt almost like one of the science conferences, only that this time the audience seemed more invested and genuinely interested in what she had to say. She encouraged everypony to ask as many questions as they had. Rose Quartz agreed and summed it up in her own words

“We’ll stay here all night if necessary, and we won’t stop until everypony got their chance to air their concerns.”

Obviously, there were concerns. A few ponies remained sceptic throughout the night, but not as many as Radiant Beam had feared. And even those ponies could see benefits in an agricultural project for the Crystal Empire. Everypony chipped in ideas, or pointed out problems, even some that Radiant Beam and her team hadn’t even considered.

However, just as quick, they also offered solutions for those problems. Empty buildings in the northern districts could serve as warehouses for any produce. The wells and fountains that could be found all over the city could serve as overflow containers in case there was too much rainwater. Somepony brought up ideas for windmills to process the grain into flour. Radiant Beam took notes on all those things, until she suddenly realized that nopony seemed concerned about the weather anymore. Instead, everypony only saw the chances for their Empire to grow and prosper. New buildings would have to be constructed, tools were needed and many, many helpers. Radiant Beam thought about Silver Sterling and her husband, the blacksmith, who might soon have more orders that he and his son could fulfil all on their own.

Everypony seemed to get ahead of themselves, but Rose Quartz remained level-headed and grounded. Before speculations could go too wild, she spoke up again and focused on the first step first. A quick vote later, and the Crystal Empire agreed to look into establishing a weather system. For that, Radiant Beam and Stormy Skies would start their tests, in three days’ time, long enough for everypony to prepare.

Rose Quartz thanked everypony for their contribution and adjourned the meeting. The crystal ponies again gathered in small groups that talked as they slowly left the assembly hall, until only the members of the council, Harvest Moon, Stormy Skies and Radiant Beam remained. Stormy Skies raised his hoof and Harvest Moon bumped in with a loud smack. Radiant Beam just grinned along. There was still going to be a lot of work, but they’d already braved the first step, which often turned out to be the hardest. Now things could finally move on for her project, and her friends.

Her eyes opened in surprise, but it was true. She’d been working close with other ponies before, but somehow during the last few days, something had ‘clicked’ between the three of them. So it was no surprise when Stormy Skies declared that this called for celebratory drinks, he pulled Radiant Beam and Harvest Moon right along. And to her own surprise, Radiant Beam just went along. They left the assembly hall and their professionalism behind, at least for one night, and just hung out like friends would.

Three days passed in a blink, and Radiant Beam was back at the northern border of the Crystal Empire, near Harvest Moon’s field. Stormy Skies was already in the air, dipping out of the protective barrier a few times to test the wind and the clouds. The ever-lasting blizzard outside was still blowing, and Radiant Beam’s horn glowed brightly. She had several spells in place already that kept feeding her critical information like air pressure, humidity, wind velocity and more. She only had two days’ worth of results to compare, but like Stormy Skies, she felt confident in their plan. She couldn’t fly and actively change the weather like Stormy Skies, but weather magic was her special talent, so she was in her element.

Next to her, Harvest Moon watched with interest, as did Crystal Note and Rose Quartz. Only Copper Dime seemed a little bit worried, now that the time had come for the first real test. Stormy Skies waved his hoof in a sign, and Harvest Moon replied in kind. It was time to start.

Stormy Skies passed the protective barrier and dived right into the biggest bunch of clouds, so he was out of sight very quickly for everypony except Radiant Beam. She couldn’t see him, but she could feel the clouds changing as his pegasus magic activated. She closed her eyes to focus on the intricate patterns of the weather magic and kept sending little impulses of her own magic towards the clouds. They weren’t nearly enough to actually change the blizzard into rain, but they would serve as small pointers for Stormy Skies, if necessary.

Radiant Beam opened her eyes again when she could hear the roar of the wind inside the barrier, just in time to see the big bunch of blizzard clouds slip inside and change, not only in size but also in colour. The icy-white blizzard changed into grey, heavy rain clouds. There was no lightning, but a low grumble like thunder rang out, and Radiant Beam flinched when she felt the first drop of rain on her nose. Moments later, droplets rained down and quickly soaked the ground, and the small group of ponies.

Before any of group could start to cheer, something odd happened, and Radiant Beam’s eyes opened wide. The bunch of clouds suddenly expanded and quickly filled the whole sky inside the barrier like a grey blanket, and the rainfall grew even heavier. Radiant Beam double- and triple-checked her spells, then her hoof smacked against her forehead. Rain clouds and snow clouds had different densities, and so their size would change. Why didn’t she think about this sooner?

Stormy Skies dived down from the sky with a sheepish expression on his face. One look and Radiant Beam realized that he hadn’t thought about it either. Such a rookie mistake. Radiant Beam thought she had to be angry, mostly at herself because she had done all the calculations and hadn’t considered this, but instead she just started laughing. She was soaking wet, like the ponies around her, but she just couldn’t help herself. Stormy Skies joined right in, and Harvest Moon not far behind.

“Yeah, I think I kinda overshot that one. My bad,”

Stormy Skies rubbed the back of his head and Radiant Beam rolled her eyes before she started laughing again and turned to Harvest Moon. He was grinning and pointed at the other three ponies who were standing in a little distance.

Copper Dime and Rose Quartz stared up at the sky, they probably had missed the mishap entirely as they witnessed their first ever rain. Rose Quartz instinctively tried to shake the water out of her coat, which of course didn’t work in the middle of the downpour, and Copper Dime tried to shield his face with his hat against the rain. Crystal Note next to them had her eyes closed and her head lifted towards the sky, clearly enjoying the feeling of rain on her face, and she laughed, so hard and loud that the other two started staring at her.

Crystal Note didn’t mind at all and only laughed harder. She waved to Radiant Beam and the others, and then she just started singing and prancing through the rain, splashing through the puddles on the ground

Raindrops keep falling on my head
But that doesn't mean my eyes will soon be turning red
Crying's not for me
'Cause I'm never gonna stop the rain by complaining

Because I'm free
Nothing's worrying me

Radiant Beam and her friends laughed while the other two were just staring. Crystal Note stopped singing, only so she could send the biggest smile Radiant Beam had seen on her towards them

“You did it!”

Stormy Skies rubbed the back of his head

“More like, I overdid it. This is a bit more than we were aiming for.”

Rose Quartz shook her head again, as if she was trying to get some water out of her ears, and Radiant Beam used her magic to construct a shield around them, so they’d be (mostly) safe from the downpour. Copper Dime hesitated for a moment, but then he rushed under the shield to join the others

“This is not dangerous, is it?”

Stormy Skies shook his head and Radiant Beam used her weather magic to test the rainclouds once more

“This is as hard as the rain will be, but it will probably keep going for the rest of the day like this.”

“Sounds about right.”

Stormy Skies watched the clouds attentively

“Now that we figured out that our theory works, we can do some fine-tuning. I promise something like this won’t happen again.”

Harvest Moon shook his head, but he was grinning

“Well, I don’t mind. The ground was due for a good soak either way, and the wells in town should be able to hold a lot of water. Though I’d like to check on the fields to be sure.”

Stormy Skies nodded and spread his wings

“Sure thing. I’ll come with you.”

With that, both stallions left Radiant’ Beam’s shield and walked back into the pouring rain. Copper Dime watched after them, and for a moment he hesitated, but then he left the relative safety of the shield to follow them.

Rose Quartz watched the sky and the never-ending drum of droplets on the shield

“We should go back to the city. Tell everypony that everything is fine and nothing bad will happen.”

She looked between Radiant Beam and Crystal Note

“Nothing bad will happen, right?”

Crystal Note laughed and shook her head

“Oh, of course not! I’ve been to places where they get weeks of rain at a time, and the ponies there are doing fine. One day won’t hurt anypony.”

Radiant Beam started walking towards the city and the two mares followed so they could stay under her shield while they listened to Crystal Note’s story.

When they reached the first houses, Rose Quartz paid less attention to the story and instead she started looking around. Because of the rain, they couldn’t see too far, but she saw ponies looking out of their windows or standing in the doors of their houses, watching the downpour. A few of them stepped outside to feel the rain on their coats for a little while, but they quickly retreated into their houses, accompanied by laughter.

Crystal Note had started singing another song about rain, one Radiant Beam was not familiar with, but it lured out more ponies to see the rain for themselves.

When they reached the residential district, Radiant Beam saw something that warmed her heart, even through the cold rain. A pair of foals, a colt and a filly, played in the rain and splashed through puddles, laughing the entire time. They were earth pony foals from Equestria and dressed up for the weather, with bright yellow raincoats and boots. Their mother stood by them, safe from the rain under her umbrella, though not safe from all the splashing the foals caused by jumping from puddle to puddle.

Their laughter lured out more foals from crystal pony families, and soon a whole herd of fillies and colts splashed through the water and their laughter echoed through the rain. They didn’t seem to mind that they didn’t have any raingear at all, they were enjoying themselves too much for that.

Crystal Note laughed more and left Radiant Beam’s shield to join the foals, which left her soaking wet in a matter of seconds, and even Rose Quartz laughed along when she started singing with the foals

I'm singing in the rain
Just singing in the rain
What a glorious feeling
I'm happy again.

I'm laughing at the clouds.
So dark up above,
The sun's in my heart
And I'm ready for love.

Despite the grey clouds and the cold rain, Radiant Beam could hear laughing ponies all around her, and everywhere she looked she saw their coats and colours shine and sparkle, even if there wasn’t any sunlight.

Before the playing could get too wild, one of the fillies let out a big sneeze. Crystal Note stopped singing at that and gathered the foals around her. She then closed her eyes and her horn lit up as she summoned a shield spell like Radiant Beam, only that hers was turquoise instead of yellow, and a bit bigger so all the foals could stay safe from the rain.

Radiant Beam watched fascinated. So far, she had not seen Crystal Note perform any spells or use magic at all. It didn’t look any different from her own, even though some of the crystal ponies looked worried for a moment. That moment passed soon though as the foals kept laughing under the shield and followed Crystal Note as she walked from house to house, dropping of all the colts and fillies to their parents, until only the twin sisters Radiant Beam had seen the other day stayed under the shield spell with her.

Except, once they saw Rose Quartz next to Radiant Beam, one of the fillies dashed through the rain and entered Radiant’s shield instead. Rose Quartz barely managed to catch the filly in a hug

“Auntie Rose, it’s raining! Isn’t it great?”

“It certainly is, Sweetie Tooth. But it’s also very cold. How about we go home so we can get you warm and dry again?”

The filly squirmed playfully when Rose Quartz tried to brush her soggy mane out of her eyes. By now, Crystal Note and the second twin had joined them.

“We’re taking the girls home. Would you like to join us, Radiant Beam?”

Radiant Beam almost missed the question as she watched the second sister, Velvet Heart, greet her aunt with a hug as well, but she snapped back to attention quickly. Crystal Note’s expression was friendly and open, but Radiant Beam knew she’d most likely be in the way of the mixed-matched family. That, and she’d most likely pester Crystal Note with questions about her magic, now that she’d seen it in action.

“I’d love to, but, um, I should get back to the palace and start on my report, and I need to compile all the data we gathered today and all that.”

Crystal Note tilted her head a little, like she could see through Radiant Beam’s excuses for a moment, but then she smiled anyways

“I understand. Feel free to visit us at any later time, though. You’re always welcome in our home.”

The fillies nodded excited from their surrogate mother’s sides and Rose Quartz added a more serious nod as well.

Radiant Beam tried to hide her surprise, but judging from the giggling fillies, she didn’t do a very good job. Instead, she just stammered a quick excuse and rushed off, but forgot that her shield spell would move along and leave the four crystal ponies out in the rain. She turned around when she heard a surprised shriek, but before she could say anything, Crystal Note had constructed her own shield once more and the four ponies were laughing, especially when one of the twins shook off the water from her coat and sprayed the others with droplets.

Glad that her little mishap didn’t cause any repercussions, Radiant Beam hurried back towards the palace. She thought about lowering her shield so she wouldn’t draw any attention to herself, but everypony she passed seemed to watch the rain instead.

She reached the palace and after a quick dry spell, slipped into her room. Despite what she had said to Crystal Note, there was not much data to work with, but she dutifully wrote down everything for her daily report anyway. Still, she ran out of work rather quickly, and she decided this was a good opportunity to explore the palace some more. Especially the royal library she heard so much about.

The library was hard to find than she expected, and when she pushed open a large set of doors, she found somepony else instead. By the large windows that gave a good view over the city, she saw none other than Princess Cadance, watching the rainy streets of her empire. Radiant Beam thought about slipping out quietly so she wouldn’t disturb the princess, but she’d already been noticed.

Princess Cadance turned her head towards her, meeting her eyes with a kind smile

“Hello, Radiant Beam. Would you like to join me?”

Despite it being an open question, Radiant Beam knew better than to decline a royal invitation

“Thank you, Your Highness.”

Born and raised in Canterlot, Radiant Beam knew how she was expected to behave in the presence of royalty. She bowed appropriately, before she approached Princess Cadance, eyes cast down as it was polite, then another bow before she settled down, in exactly a pony length of distance. She had learned this when she was still a little filly, one of the first lessons her mother had taught her when she had been accepted into Princess Celestia’s school. A student, a scientist, a pony of rank, everypony had to follow these rules when approaching an alicorn princess, the highest of royal ponies in all of Equestria.

But apparently, these rules didn’t count in the Crystal Empire. Princess Cadance chuckled softly, and Radiant Beam’s eyes darted up when the taller princess suddenly sat down next to her, so they could both watch the city through the windows.

“I’ve never been very keen on all these formalities. I’d rather have ponies look at me when they’re talking, and speak their minds freely.”

Radiant Beam shyly glanced up, only to see Princess Cadance was still smiling

“Much better, don’t you think?”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

The princess chuckled again, and Radiant Beam joined in after a moment of hesitation.

“I’m sorry I was not able to properly greet you when you first arrived. I’m very glad you followed our call for assistance, Radiant Beam.”

“Of course, Your Highness. The Royal Institute is happy to aid, and I am honoured to offer my assistance to you.”

Radiant Beam blushed when she felt a nudge to her side, and saw a small frown from Princess Cadance

“What did I just tell you about needless formalities?”

“Apologies, Your Highness.”

Princess Cadance rolled her eyes as if annoyed, but her smile returned

“I’ll let it slip for now. But next time, I will spend half an hour to lecture you about ridiculous formalities, so you better watch out.”

Radiant Beam staged another deep bow, and then they both chuckled at their silliness.

“I hope your stay in our empire has been pleasant so far.”

“Oh, yes, very! It’s very interesting to see the Crystal Heart and the famous magic barrier in pony, and everyone in the palace is so nice to me. And the few ponies I met, they are very friendly…”

Princess Cadance waited when Radiant Beam’s word petered out, and after a moment felt the need for a gentle nudge

“I’m sensing a ‘but’ that’s supposed to be here.”

Radiant Beam looked down to her hooves. She knew the princess wanted her to be honest, but what she had to say could come out the wrong way.

“It’s just, the more time I spend with the citizens, I realized that this place still has a lot of problems. It’s almost depressing.”

Her ears flopped down, waiting to be reprimanded for her words, but instead she heard a deep sigh that had her look up again. Princess Cadance was watching the city through the veils of rain, and there was this sadness in her eyes that Radiant Beam had seen before from the crystal ponies she met, only it seemed even deeper this time.

“I know what you’re saying. My husband and I have been working so hard for a decade now, but there is so much still left to do. Sometimes it feels we’re barely making a dent, and some days it feels like nothing I do makes a real difference.”

Radiant Beam nodded and her eyes wandered to the outer districts. She could only see blurry silhouettes because of the rain, but her mind’s eye filled the blanks with memories of empty, run-down buildings she’d seen.

Next to her, Princess Cadance closed her eyes for a deep breath, putting her hoof to her chest, and then pushing it out as she exhaled. Radiant Beam could see the difference when her eyes opened again, now glimmering with joy and hope, and her mane waved magically in an unseen breeze

“But then I remember all the good things we already did achieve. We gave our ponies a place to mourn, and a place to heal. Our hospital made sure everypony could get the support they need. Not a single family had to lose a foal over the harsh winter. Our numbers are recovering, and soon will start growing again. And my little ponies learned that they are neither powerless nor helpless. The Crystal Council is making bound and leaps to the progress of our Empire.”

The princess smiled, and her wing spread out over Radiant Beam who could just stare at her

“And today, for the first time, we had rain. Everypony has seen our foals play in puddles and heard their laughter filling the streets. And it’s in no small part thanks to you, Radiant Beam.”

A big smile burst to Radiant Beam and matched Princess Cadance

“I’m glad I could help. I’m happy I could make a difference and help change things for the better.”

She knew it was true. She felt it. Maybe she only accepted this mission out of obligation to the Institute and her curiosity about the magic of the Empire. But what had kept her going, what had driven her to pour all her effort into this project, was her desire to help these ponies, to make their lives better, to help them overcome their fears.

Her eyes returned to the city behind the windows, and a small, wistful sigh escaped

“I just wish I could do more.”

Princess Cadance had been watching her attentively, sensing a lot of the emotions behind her words. There was some inner conflict the mare had to figure out for herself, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t help. While she couldn’t decide for Radiant Beam what she wanted to do, at least she could open a few doors for her, show her that there was more than just one path to choose.

“Nopony is stopping you from doing more, Radiant Beam. It will take time to build up a full-working weather system, and I could use an expert to oversee things.”

Radiant Beam’s ears perked up a little, but then she shook her head just a moment later

“That’s a job for a weather pegasus, not a bookworm like me. I appreciate your offer, Your Highness, but… it doesn’t feel right for me.”

“I understand, Radiant Beam.”

They sat in silence, watching the city for a while longer, and the princess still had her wing spread over her back, but it didn’t feel as weird anymore.

Suddenly, the princess tensed up and a moment later, so did Radiant Beam, as she felt a huge surge of magic. She could easily identify the signature as a teleportation matrix, but with this much power, it had to be either a giant group of ponies or an incredibly large distance.

“Cutie Mark Crusaders umbrella makers! Yay!”

Or maybe, it was just an overeager alicorn filly.

Radiant Beam couldn’t help but chuckle when she heard the voices of foals echo through the castle, Princess Flurry Heart’s voice the loudest and easy to identify. Princess Cadance, or rather Cadance the mother, sighed deeply and shook her head, though she was still smiling.

“That filly and her friends. I thought the rain was enough to keep them occupied, but I guess I was wrong. I wonder what they’re up to now.”

The princess got up and out of curiosity, Radiant Beam decided to follow. It wasn’t hard to find the foals in one of the larger rooms of the palace. Radiant Beam didn’t know how, but somehow Princess Flurry Heart and three of her friends had gathered some materials, mostly pliable wire and fabric, and were now trying to build something out of them. The three crystal ponies and Flurry Heart were wearing red and gold capes with some symbol Radiant Beam couldn’t identify.

Princess Cadance cleared her throat and Flurry Heart looked up. The young princess’ ears sank into her mane, and she dutifully walked up to her stern-looking mother, only to be joined by the other three foals, a colt and two fillies.

Princess Cadance let them stew for a couple of moments, before her frown faded and was replaced by a kind smile

“Would you like to explain what’s going on here, Flurry Heart?”

The young alicorn exchanged a glance with her little friends and they all nodded, so she started to explain

“So, um, we have rain now, right? But only Miss Cinnamon has an umbrella because she brought one with her when she moved here.”

The colt now took over, followed by the other two fillies

“So we thought it’s a shame that everypony else has to either stay inside or get wet when it rains.”

“And then we thought it’d be nice if we made umbrellas for everypony.”

“So nopony has to get wet in the rain. And maybe we’d even get our cutie marks as umbrella makers!”

The foals’ smiles were so genuine and excited, Princess Cadance stood no chance. She sighed softly and nodded her head

“That is very thoughtful of you. But do any of you even know how to build an umbrella?”

“Um…” “Well…” “We, uh, kinda…” “We’re still working on that!”

Radiant Beam didn’t mean to laugh out loudly, but she just couldn’t hold it back. It was adorable to watch the foals and all their enthusiasm, and how they wanted to be helpful for everypony. Even if their method was still a little unrefined.

“As much fun as a hooves-on approach can be, I think you need to do some research first for something like this.”

With that, she had the attention of the young princess and her friends.

“But where would we research something like that?”

Radiant Beam chuckled softly and smiled

“I’d say the library is a good starting point for any kind of research.”

The two older foals groaned a little and Radiant Beam heard some muttering about too much homework, but Princess Flurry Heart and they youngest filly seemed genuinely excited

“Of course! Let’s try that!”

Flurry Heart was about to rush off, but Radiant Beam carefully blocked the door before she could. When the young princess was about to ask what was wrong, Radiant Beam subtly pointed to Princess Cadance, and Flurry Heart got her hint

“Oh! Um, is it okay that we use the library, Mom?”

Princess Cadance allowed it with a nod, and the small herd of foals ran out, so they missed the princess winking and Radiant Beam hiding a giggle behind her hoof.

“Thank you, Radiant Beam.”
“You’re welcome, Your Highness. Let’s just hope the library will survive their energy.”

They chuckled and Princess Cadance nodded

“Yes, sadly I’m already late for my meeting with the council, so I can’t watch them.”

Radiant Beam looked after the foals and saw the last of them vanish behind a corner

“I could keep an eye on them for you, Princess Cadance.”
“Are you sure? They can be a bit overwhelming at times.”

She thought back to her day at the school and how well they all behaved in class, so she just smiled

“I’m sure I can handle it, Your Highness.”

“Well, in that case, thank you very much, Radiant Beam.”

She bowed with a little grin as Princess Cadance rolled her eyes, but with a smile, then the two mares separated for their tasks.

Inside the library, Flurry Heart and her little friends had spread out to find the right books, but to no success so far. As far as Radiant Beam could tell, they were just pulling out books from the shelves at random. Of course they wouldn’t find anything like that.

She walked by one of the shelves and saw the smallest of the fillies struggling with a very big and very heavy tome, so she used a flick of her horn to help lift the book. The filly seemed surprised, but not scared to see the now floating book, obviously she’d seen magic around Princess Flurry Heart before. So when she turned around to thank her friend but saw Radiant Beam instead, she only hesitated for a moment but then smiled and thanked her.

Radiant Beam set down the book for her and glanced at the title

“Oh dear. ‘Advanced fluid dynamics in semi-conductive systems.’ Are you sure that’s the book you’re looking for?”

The filly nodded, but she didn’t seem very convinced

“Um, fluid means water, right? So maybe there’s something in that book!”

Radiant Beam laughed and shook her head

“I’m afraid there’s a little more to it than just that… Maybe you’ll be better with something more basic.”

With practiced ease, she invoked a research spell that let her scan through the entire bookshelf for something more fitting for the filly’s needs

“Let’s see, we have ‘Weather and you – a beginner’s guide into weather systems’, that should cover the basics. Then there’s ‘Do it yourself! – 101 simple ideas to create’ by Home Craft, it’s a very famous book in Equestria. Oh, so is this one here.”

Radiant Beam kept listing a few more books, but she then noticed the filly, while staring at her, didn’t really pay much attention to the books at all.

“There’s a hundred books in this shelf alone, and you just knew which ones to pick?”

“It’s 327 books in this shelf.”

Radiant Beam corrected automatically. Instead of annoying the filly, she seemed even more amazed

“How do you know that? Flurry is really good at magic, but I’ve never seen her do anything like that!”

And just like that, Radiant Beam was back at a topic she felt familiar with, and eager to share

“I’m a magical researcher, and I wanted to be one since I was little. I’ve learned this spell very early in my studies, and by now I’m pretty good at it. It allows me to scan through vast amounts of information and look for certain keywords or phrases.”

“That’s so cool! So you can read an entire bookshelf in just a second?”

The filly stared up at her with awe and shining gem-shaped eyes, and Radiant Beam smiled as she explained

“If I go through an entire bookshelf, I can read the titles mostly. But if I focus on one book, I can search even more thoroughly.”

To demonstrate, she picked up the ‘Do it yourself’-book with her magic and a small flash later, it opened at a specific page

“There we go, ‘Umbrellas and other weather gear’. That should help you out.”

Again, the filly only glanced at the book, but then went straight back to staring at her, far more interested by her than making umbrellas it seems

“Can every unicorn do this? Are all researchers unicorns? How do you remember everything when you read so many books at once?”

Radiant Beam chuckled softly. She didn’t mind being bombarded with questions at all, how could she be annoyed when the filly looked at her with such bright eyes and so much enthusiasm? So instead, she sat down and put the books aside for now, as she tried her best to answer all those questions.

“Technically, every unicorn can learn this spell, but it’s a bit beyond everyday spells most unicorns know. I’m using it a lot, almost every day, so I’m well practiced and it’s easy for me. Our library in the institute is almost as big, so when I want to find a specific book, that spell comes very handy. And, well, I don’t remember much of it when I used that spell. I gather a lot of information at once, but I forget most of it again right away, I only keep what I was looking for when I cast the spell. So if I had no idea what I was looking for, I’d still have to pull out every single book and read it.”

The filly nodded eagerly and Radiant Beam could almost hear how she tried to absorb everything straight to her memory, while she still had time to think of new questions

“Then how do you know what you’re looking for?”

“As I said, sometimes I don’t. In that case, what I usually do is I start looking for information in a broader spectrum, then slowly narrow it down by doing cross-references, until I have everything condensed to the most vital facts.”

The filly frowned a little, and for a moment Radiant Beam thought she had used too many difficult words at once, since the filly couldn’t be older than six or seven years old. However, that wasn’t the case at all, she understood perfectly, so much even that she could follow up with some conclusions of her own

“So it’s not just as easy as walking into a library and finding the right book. You still have to put in a lot of work before you get a good result.”

Radiant Beam smiled in appreciation of the filly’s wit, and nodded

“Yes. That’s what being a researcher means. Sometimes, you have to find tiny bits of information from dozens of books and put them together in a new way to come to a conclusion. A lot of times, the things you are looking for aren’t even in books, so you need to interview ponies, or sometimes even do some experimentation. There are a lot of different techniques to do proper research.”

The filly thought about that and nodded, but her frown stayed when she came to the next conclusion

“So you have to be a unicorn to be a researcher, right? To do all those research spells.”

If she had been in Canterlot, Radiant Beam probably would have said something close to ‘unicorns are the best researchers’. But that was before she had met Harvest Moon, who could easily keep up with her in logic and outsmart her in some topics. It was also before she had met Rose Quartz, Silver Sterling and Crystal Note, who gave her new perspective, not only on how the crystal ponies saw her, but also about what it meant to them that she was a unicorn.

Radiant Beam thought long and hard, before she finally answered

“No, I don’t think so. In my institute, there are predominantly unicorns, but that’s because we mostly study magic and magical phenomena. And sure, it helps to know research spells, but sometimes it’s better to properly read a book from start to finish instead of just picking out information out of context. I think everypony can become a researcher, if they keep an open mind for anything new and are dedicated to never stop learning.”

The filly smiled and nodded, but to her surprise, Radiant Beam heard a groan from her left. She turned around and saw the other three foals sitting close by. She had not noticed them approach, but they had to have heard at least the last few things she had said, because the older crystal filly was groaning and rolled her eyes

“But that sounds sooo boring! It’s like you never get out of school, and even if you are you’re still reading all day long.”

The tiny filly blushed and mumbled that she liked reading, and Flurry Heart nudged her friend with her wing

“That’s not what Miss Radiant Beam said! You can also do research when you go out and talk to ponies. That’s super fun!”

“Depends on the stories I guess.”

By now, the young filly had moved to sit next to Radiant Beam so that they formed a loose circle, the stack of books clearly forgotten in favour of talking about researchers.

The older filly rolled her eyes again

“If it’s just old ponies talking about old stuff…”

“You’re silly, Ivory Rose! Those stories are the best!”

“Maybe for an egghead like you, Ocean Waves.”

The small filly, Ocean Waves, blew a raspberry at Ivory Rose, who tried to fend off the colt’s attempt to poke her for ‘being mean’ to his little sister. Flurry Heart meanwhile didn’t like that her friends started fighting (even if Radiant Beam could tell that neither of the foals meant it), so instead she tried to be diplomatic

“I think it’s important to hear these stories, so ponies don’t forget them! Imagine how much we’d lose if nopony never wrote stuff into books. Right Miss Beam?”

Radiant Beam nodded, and so did Ocean Waves at her side

“A lot of ponies learn about the past through stories and myths. They gather everything they can about events that are long past, and try to document and analyse them, so ponies don’t forget the lessons that can be learned from them. Researchers like that are called historians.”

Flurry Heart and Ocean Waves nodded, and this time the colt chimed in

“But what about the things that are happening right now? Isn’t it important we remember those things, too? Like, about the first day of rain in the Crystal Empire!”

This time, all the foals nodded, and Radiant Beam tried to explain

“There are ponies who do that as well. Journalists write reports about such events, and many ponies try to preserve the opinions and thoughts of the ponies who were there when they happened. Those would be contemporary historians, in a way.”

Ocean Waves’ eyes lit up and she beamed a smile to the others

“That sounds like a fun thing to do! We should do that! Talk to ponies and find out what they think about the rain! We could be Cutie Mark Crusader reporters!”

Flurry Heart and Ivory Rose nodded, the latter less enthusiastic than the former, but the colt chimed in

“But what if we meet ponies that don’t like the rain. That would make ponies think it wasn’t a good idea when they read our report! But it is!”

“That’s silly, Amber! Why would anypony not like rain?”

Flurry Heart looked down, far less enthusiastic than just a moment ago, and Ivory Rose also looked conflicted.

“My parents aren’t convinced it’s a good thing yet. They are not against it, but they’re concerned.”

Ivory Rose admitted and Flurry Heart added

“And I’ve seen a few others who feel the same. They didn’t talk to me, but I’ve heard them talk with my Mom and Dad about it. And with Rose Quartz, too.”

“So we don’t write those things down, right?”

Radiant Beam met Ocean Waves’ eyes at this and asked

“But if you leave certain ponies’ opinions out, you wouldn’t be documenting the whole story anymore, wouldn’t you? It’s up to you what you write, but most researchers try to be as objective as possible to get all points of view. Everything has good and bad consequences, and I think it’s important that we don’t forget or ignore the concerns of other ponies, even if we don’t agree with them.”

Ocean Waves nodded, deep in thought suddenly

“You’re right. We can’t leave that out because we wouldn’t write down the whole truth. When we write that report, we need to make sure we talk to as many ponies as possible, maybe even all of them!”

Flurry Heart and Amber Waves nodded, and only Ivory Rose groaned

“What do you mean, ‘when’ we write that report? Don’t you mean ‘if’?”

She looked at her friends, but they all nodded encouragingly

“It’s a great idea.” “We can do something that other ponies can read later when they want to remember how the Crystal Empire got rain!” “Maybe we can even get our cutie marks as reporters!”

Radiant Beam smiled but didn’t interrupt as the foals started making plans. By now she had guessed why they called themselves the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and she couldn’t help but admire their energy and enthusiasm, but also their determination. They really made a good team.

“If we get stuck with our report, can we ask you again, Miss Radiant Beam?”

Flurry Heart’s question came as a surprise, but she nodded without a second thought, much to the delight of small Ocean Waves
“And maybe you can teach us some of those researcher techniques you talked about?”

Radiant Beam smiled to the filly and nodded

“It would be my pleasure, Cutie Mark Crusaders.”

The foals cheered and literally bounced from happiness, but then Flurry Heart got serious again and looked at the others.

“You know what that means, right?”

“Uh-huh.” “Yes!” “Let’s do this!”

They put their hooves together and shouted in a volume that Radiant Beam did not expect be possible from just four small foals

“CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS REPORTERS! YAY!”

While Radiant Beam tried to get the ringing out of her ears, Flurry Heart lit up her horn with way too much magic

“Get ready, everypony!”

Before she could evoke her spell, Radiant Beam reached out to gently tap her horn, which was enough to break the young alicorn’s concentration

“Huh? What’s wrong?”

“Princess Flurry, shouldn’t you tell your mother where you’re going, first? And I’m not sure if it’s okay that you all go unsupervised. Ocean Waves is still very young, after all.”

Amber Waves and Ivory Rose started giggling and Ocean Waves glared at her, though it was more of a pout really

“I’m two months older than Flurry Heart! And I’m only a year younger than my brother!”

Amber nodded and tried to ruffle Ocean’s mane, which she fought back fiercely

“Ocean spent all her effort growing her brain, so the rest of her fell behind in size, but she’s super smart!”

Radiant Beam chuckled along with the fillies

“I understand. But please make sure to let your parents know, nonetheless. And make sure you don’t spend all the time in the rain. I would hate for you to fall sick.”

The foals nodded and promised before they ran off, and Radiant Beam could hear their laughter as they ran down the hallway.

The silence fell hard on her, suddenly. She looked around and couldn’t help but feel strange. The library had tons and tons of rare, exciting books that just begged to be read, and nopony was around to disturb her. If this was two weeks ago in Canterlot, she knew she’d given her hoof for an opportunity like that.

But right now, despite the tomes of knowledge all around her, without the foals this library just felt empty.

In her mind, she saw the empty houses of the Empire, all perfectly functional, but ultimately useless without ponies to live there. She remembered the small school and the even smaller class of foals she talked to the other day. She remembered Silver Sterling and her husband, who wanted to contribute in a meaningful way, but lacked opportunity.

And then her eyes wandered to the windows, where she could see the rain still dripping down. Right now, the rainclouds were grey and dense and almost constricting, but she knew that once the sun came back through, the city would glitter and shine just as beautifully as always. And when the rain had soaked the ground, plants would start to grow, just a few at first, but with some work and patience there would be fields of winter wheat. Enough to feed the crystal ponies, and enough for the next generation as well. Maybe there would be grey, rainy days from now on, but she knew that the crystal ponies would take them and turn them into something beautiful, just like they had with their city deep in the Frozen North.

And suddenly, Radiant Beam realized that she wanted to be around to see all of this with her own eyes.

She had been asked if she would stay, three times, but the third time from Ocean Waves seemed the most meaningful somehow, even compared to her talk with Princess Cadance. Because it gave her an idea how she, Radiant Beam from Canterlot, could contribute to the Crystal Empire, and maybe someday be a part of it.

The first harvest of winter wheat started as a small celebration that somehow turned into a big party that just kept growing, until it was more or less a city-wide festival. Thanks to the mild temperature from the Crystal Heart and the effort from Stormy Skies newly formed weather patrol, the winter wheat only took about three months to be ready to harvest. Not only that, but the fields of crystal berries had benefitted greatly from the rain as well. Traditionally, it was the mares of the city who would go and pick them, but this year, it had taken everypony three whole days to pick them all.

Harvest Moon had already planned to add more fields. He had a team of five stallions who worked with him nearly all the time, and more ponies who would help out on short notice. Now that they’d had a successful harvest of wheat, they planned on trying different crops as well. They already promised that for the next Crystal Faire, there would be more crystal corn on a cob than everypony could ever eat.

Radiant Beam visited his farm frequently. She wasn’t much help with actual farm work, but he liked to have her double-check his plans and estimations, while Radiant Beam liked to see the progress he and his team had made. Already, they had five brand-new metal ploughs and a whole assortment of farming tools, courtesy of the town’s best metal smith, Silver Sterling’s husband.

More often however, Radiant Beam and Harvest Moon didn’t even talk about the farm. Instead, they talked about anything that came to their minds, sometimes deep into the night. Despite growing up on a farm, Harvest Moon was well versed in classic pony philosophy. Some times, Stormy Skies would join them, and the three unlikely friends would talk, about their lives in Equestria, but more often about their future in the Crystal Empire.

Radiant Beam had moved from her room in the palace into one of the smaller houses near the Crystal Palace. It seemed right, even though Princess Cadance assured her that she could get a permanent apartment inside the palace. She had left the Crystal Empire only four times so far. The first time was the longest, when she had to explain to the Canterlot Institute of Magic that she would lay down her position as researcher, and to her family that she would leave Canterlot.

Her colleagues at the institute had mixed reactions, some had mocked and berated her, and her superior had tried to convince her to stay. In the end, he respected her decision and wished her good luck. They still exchanged letters twice a week, and sometimes he asked her about her opinion on new projects.

Her family had accepted her decision from the first moment and only congratulated her. Of course her parents would be sad to see her leave, but they could see in her eyes what it really meant for Radiant Beam and why she made that decision. Unlike the many times before when she had talked about her projects, this time Radiant Beam felt like her family really listened to every word she said and understood all her reasons without any questions. They had already promised to visit her soon, and she had been back to Canterlot twice for a visit.

The last trip outside of the Crystal Empire had been with Crystal Note, on a diplomatic mission for Princess Cadance and the Crystal Council. They had visited Vanhoover, the biggest northern-most city of Equestria, and established an exchange programme with the local weather patrol. They had also stayed with some of Crystal Note’s friends in Vanhoover, and they had talked about magic all night. Radiant Beam would probably write an essay on crystal unicorn magic, now that she knew Crystal Note didn’t mind.

The day after the impromptu harvest festival, Radiant Beam walked down the now-familiar street towards the market plaza. A few ponies from the street were already up and greeted her. All the weird looks she had gotten for being a unicorn had stopped months ago, after she had been invited to a little get-together and endured a night of questions. That night, she had also been introduced to crystal berry pie, which was easily her favourite by now.

She walked past the market and headed straight into a small building. It was placed in the middle of a junction, where many streets from different parts of the city met, and foals flocked in from every direction. The school was still unimpressive from the outside, but the inside had changed drastically. The rooms that were once plain and empty now had tools and proper blackboards. There was a room with all kinds of maps for geography and history, the math room had a box with slide rules and even some modern calculators for the students. Every room now had a bookshelf with encyclopaedias, dictionaries, and textbooks. And, of course, all the rooms had proper desks for the students and the teachers now. After exchanging a few letters, Rose Quartz and Radiant Beam had established a connection between the Crystal Empire and the Equestrian Board of Education. They had agreed to assist the Crystal Empire financially, and they were also talking about exchange programmes with schools from all over Equestria. On Radiant Beam’s idea, they had also established a pen pal project, and every student of the Crystal Empire now traded letters with students from many different cities in the south.

Radiant Beam headed straight for the loudest of the rooms with the middle schoolers. While they still didn’t have enough teachers (and students) to separate the classes by years, they had at least managed to organise the students into four classes instead of just two. That way, they could focus more on each subject.

As soon as she stepped inside, the fillies and colts scrambled to their chairs and by the time Radiant Beam had reached her desk in the front, every foal was sat down and waited for their teacher to begin. Radiant Beam didn’t hide her broad smile. The fillies and colts were loud and full of energy all the time, but they were also well behaved, and it was a joy to teach them.

“Good morning, class!”
“Good morning, Miss Radiant Beam!”

She smiled and opened her text book, and class was in session.

Author's Note

This was a big one. It took me almost half a year to finalise, but I had so much fun expanding my version of the Crystal Empire, it was worth every minute. I'm very happy how this turned out from a side chapter of the 'main story' into its own thing.

Radiant Beam felt very natural to write, and by the time the chapter was concluded, it felt like she really deserved a proper resolution instead of just being a one-shot pony in a mini-arch, so there you have it!

As always, feel free to comment, any feedback will help me become a better writer and is very much appreciated!