“Mum, Dad,” Flurry Heart spoke up, getting their attention, “We should be crystal ponies.”
Shining Armour frowned into his cereal, “There’s no need.”
“But if we’re their royal family, we should be the same tribe as our citizens!” Flurry protested.
“Or they could think we’re being condescending or appropriating or something.” countered Shining, before looking to his wife
Cadence shrugged, “I don’t really see why you think it’s necessary, our subjects love us.” she looked away abashed, grimacing slightly, “Plus, it may’ve been a few decades, but I’m not really eager to have my tribe changed again, even if it would be less drastic than my first.”
Shining nodded, still frowning as he had been for the entire conversation, “We’re their rulers, it doesn’t matter what tribe we are, or are not as the case may be. Besides, you don’t even have your cutie mark yet, you should be thinking about other things, not politics and ‘colonialism’.”
Flurry huffed, “I’m sixteen now, dad. All my peers have their marks, and you keep telling me to wait until I get mine before I can do anything I’m actually interested in.” she sighs, “which is generally the sort of thing ponies get their marks for.”
She shoved her plate to the side as she hopped off her cushion and left the dining room in silence, the door chiming as she let it swing closed behind her.
“Why couldn’t she have been goth or something,” sighed Shining, “I’m sure that would have been much easier to deal with...”
His wife giggled at him, “I think you might be underestimating it, but perhaps. It’d certainly have been very cute at least, and I’m sure there’d have been plenty of stallions— or mares— eager for her hoof.”
“Not that there aren’t going to be plenty as-is,” Shining muttered, glaring out a window in fatherly outrage and getting another giggle from Cadence.
Meanwhile, Flurry was stalking the corridors of the palace, heading towards the Crystal Heart. Perhaps, she mused, she might be allowed to get close for once and hopefully form some sort of connection with it.
Unfortunately her hopes were easily dashed as she approached and the guards barred her way, “Sorry your highness,” started the higher ranked of the two, “Your parents’ order to not let you in persists.”
She sighed, “Fine.” she muttered, scuffing a hoof against the floor before setting off again. Lighting her horn as she concentrated and flaring her wings slightly she vanished.
The junior guard glanced inside the heart room just in case, before returning to his post at the lack of alicorn.
Halfway across the city Flurry Heart reappeared, crashing into a beanbag chair conveniently placed above a slight dent in the floor. “Feel free to come in,” her best friend quipped from where she was working on some homework at her desk, “Me casa es tu casa.”
Flurry raised an eyebrow at Whistle Wishes, “Gratuitous Minos, much?”
The crystal unicorn grinned, unrepentant, “You did just teleport into my room, I think I’m allowed some gratuitousness. ‘Sides, I can tell something’s bothering you, so spill. Is it about not being allowed to see the heart again, or different this time?”
Flurry groaned into her seat, “You break something as a foal once and nopony ever lets you forget it...” she shifted in the seat slightly, “But yeah that, plus my dad being annoying, among other things.”
“So basically the usual then,” Whistle noted, “Anything I can do to help?”
Flurry looked up, thinking, “You know, for once there might be... You’re a Transmuter, right?”
Whistle nodded, “In training, and better with crystals, but I can manage Fixes as well.”
“Well that’s exactly what I want.”
“What, a Fix?” Whistle looked startled, “You’d still be an alicorn, Fixes are only physical not magical, and I know you’re not interested in being a colt, so I’m not sure how helpful I would be.”
“Being an alicorn and mare is fine, and you being good with crystals is also part of what I want: make me a crystal pony.”
If anything, Whistle looked even more startled than before, “This is the whole ‘non-crystal rulers’ thing again, isn’t it? I get why you want this, but we’re used to it; Sombra wasn’t one, and even Amore was only half crystal pony.”
Flurry just shot her friend a serious look and disentangled herself from the beanbag, “I’m certain.”
Whistle sighed, “For obvious reasons I absolutely can’t promise that you’ll have our little bit of tribal magic, but you’re an alicorn so who knows what’s possible.”
Flurry nodded, “Yeah but I want to try, and whenever the heart has done its thing I’ve felt the Resonance, so even if that was due to it being the heart doing it, I’m still hopeful of my chances.”
“Well,” said Whistle, standing up, “do you want to do this here, or my workroom?”
“As long as there’s nothing delicate, your workroom would probably be better and have more space.”
Whistle nodded, and opened the door between her bedroom and workroom, gesturing for Flurry to follow her as they entered the more spacious room, a few blocks of various crystals in one corner.
“Stand in the middle there and tell me when you’re ready. This will almost certainly be uncomfortable so please don’t resist as I would rather not have to repair anything again.”
Flurry nodded sheepishly, “I think I’m ready. Nervous, but ready.”
Whistle nodded back, “Well then, here goes.”
Lighting her horn Whistle focused, keeping all the differences of crystal ponies in her mind, and feeding it all into the matrix of the spell. Exhaling slowly she let it cast and watched as it swept over Flurry.
There was a flash of light as the spell resolved, blinding them both. Flurry looked down at her crystalline hooves and felt the Resonance inside her, “It worked!” She cheered, leaping to embrace Whistle.
Whistle awkwardly stumbled from the hug, “I think it did more than just simply work,” she noted.
“What do you mean?” Flurry asked, head tilted and still hugging Whistle.
“You got your cutie mark, too.”
Flurry gaped at her, before letting go and twisting to see, and indeed, there it was, the crystal heart overlaid on a snowflake, with three stars above.
“It’s kinda like both your parents’, as well as Princess Amore’s,” noted Whistle.
Flurry Heart grinned at her, “Dad’s gonna freak.”
Author's Note
Very much doubt I'll win, but I saw the competition, was overcome by an idea, and am trying to get more into the habit of writing, so voila, first story I've ever published.
Also, Blog Post for unecessary notes Here
