Broken Crystals

    “Bard! Bring your lantern over here and give me some light.” The gruff earth pony farther in the cavern commanded.  Bard was obviously not the most respected person on the exploration team.

    “Calm yourself Rocky, I’m coming.”  Harper said moving deeper into the cavern.

    Other prospectors had entered the cavern with them and had already begun mining into the walls of the cave.  This land was plentiful with jewels—unlike the lands before.

    Harper reached the Gray-haired miner-pony, who was examining a rather huge crystal that was taking up most of the wall.

    “What is it?  This cave dust is killing my sinuses” She muttered.

    “Quit whining.  You're the smart one, what type of crystal is this? I can’t seem to break it with my pickaxe.” He clenched his pick in his teeth again and brought it down on the crystal in frustration. This time the pick shattered against the gem sending shards of metal flying down the corridor.

    “To be honest, I’ve never seen a crystal like this before." Harper began to examine the stone closer as the miner adjacent to her swore at his luck out loud.

    "Damn these caves—and this bloody rock!  It can erode away for centuries for all I care!" the miner grumbled.

    Harper looked up at the ruby encrusted into her gold tiara, and spoke quietly "Ruby, have you seen anything like this before?"

    A small tongue of flame licked out from the ruby and a small voice, no louder than a whisper responded. "This is no natural stone.  This gem contains great magical energy, but—" the magical being paused.

    "But what?" Harper asked.

    "There is something else inside it.  I will investigate further, but you must remove him." a small spark flickered out in the direction of Rocky. Who was still too preoccupied to notice the odd conversation going on behind him.

    Harper nodded, and turned to Rocky.  "I can't believe you're going to let a silly boulder get the best of you.  Isn't mining them you cutie mark? I don't even know what its made out of. To think this big rock might be worth twice it's weight in gold, and you're just gonna let somepony else make the profit for your discovery!"

    Rocky started towards the exit of the cave, "Ok! You had me at 'twice it's weight in gold!' I'm going to go grab another pick.  Don't let anypony else at that rock!"

    "Easy," Harper sighed. As soon as Rocky was out of sight, the tiara levitated into the air and burst into flames. The flames shifted, and continued burning in the form of a pegasus.

    “Just be quick, a flame atronach that isn’t being summoned by a mage will most definitely not be welcome in here,” Harper continued.

    “Yes,” Ruby agreed.  “I do understand my appearance my be deemed hostile, but something about this crystal makes even my burning feathers feel a nip of cold.” One of Ruby’s fiery limbs made contact with the gem, and she reeled back and hissed in pain as the gem suddenly began to glow.

    “What is it doing?!” Harper yelled as the cave around her began to tremble.

    "I don't know! I barely touched it!" the atronach responded. The crystal began to glow a brilliant orange and an audible hum began to fill the cave.

    Just over the hum, Harper could hear yelling. The cave was becoming unsafe.  Rocky was coming back.  Ruby sensed her thoughts, and at almost the same instant Rocky rounded the corner Ruby's still red hot trinket entered Harper's saddlebags.

    "We need to leave!" Rocky exclaimed. The corridor was growing warmer, and the the gem was still glowing brighter. Shafts of light shot from cracks now forming on the rock.

    Harper looked back at the rock, now gleaming with what rivaled the power of the sun, and noticed something.  There were what looked like foals, trapped in the rock!

    "Rocky!  Give me your pickaxe!" Harper now had to scream to be heard over the now booming hum that now reverberated through the cave.

    "Are you crazy! We need to leave!" rocky shifted back and forth on his hooves, obviously fearing for his life.

    "Go," Harper yelled,"Just give me your pickaxe!" the fearful stallion easily parted with his tool and quickly galloped away down the passage.

    "Ruby, tell me I'm not crazy." Harper said as she retrieved the pickaxe from where rocky dropped it.

    "I won't say you aren’t crazy, but I am getting some weird feelings about that rock...”

    “Well, we are about to find out what this thing is hiding.” Harper said, raising the pickaxe with her mouth.

    “Or break it trying...” Ruby added.  Harper had brought down the pickaxe twice, creating no more than a scratch.

    Harper rose the pickaxe higher than before, and brought it down with great force.  The crystal caved,appearing hollow inside.  But instead of the rock collapsing in on itself the rock burst out at her.  The corridor darkened, and the great rays of light stopped completely as Harper felt herself thrust against the far wall.  The sudden darkness around her was suffocating, and she writhed in pain as she struggled to breath.

    Harper blacked out.

___   ___   ___

    Harper opened her eyes, and found herself floating through nothing but darkness.  She tried to move, but her limbs did not respond.

    Harper was helpless in a sea of black.  She yelled for help, but it did not come.  Harper fought against her invisible bonds to no avail.  She thought she heard a noise like a small whisper in her ear—a foal’s voice—but she threw that thought away.

    Harper struggled for what seemed like hours, each time more furious than the last, but finally her hope caved.  Her head hung down, dangling from her shoulders like a ragdoll.

     Then she heard hoofsteps, hoofsteps of all things.  Harper didn’t bother to look, anything in this place must not be pleasant to look at.

     “No, thats not the way to look at it at all.” A colt’s voice spoke.

     Harper rose her head to look at her would-be captor, but didn’t respond.

     The colt continued, “You look so depressed,” He sounded almost cheerful. “You just released a spirit who has been trapped for an eternity.  You should feel so very happy.”

     Harper felt a chill run down her spine as the foal’s voice was now slightly louder, screaming.

     The colt strode towards her, and harper felt the air around her grow significantly colder.  “It’s as if you don’t even want to be here.  Just accept it, and you will have such a good time!” Harper attempted to back away, but yet again realised that she was trapped.

     The scream came again, now very clear, “Wake UP!”  This time the scream was accompanied by an invisible blow to Harper’s head.

     Harper’s head was still spinning, but she could almost see the colt change shapes for a second.

     The colt spoke again, “Well, it seems that I have unfinished business to attend too.  But don’t you worry, you will be rewarded later.”

     All of a sudden the darkness peeled away, and Harper was quickly blinded by the light.

___   ___   ___

     Harper’s eyes opened to a scene of pure horror.

     A small white unicorn was launching bolts of light at the form a unicorn stallion made up entirely of shadows, whose magic tendrils were choking the life out of a smaller foal.  This one was almost the exact opposite of her sibling, whose dark blue mane and coat were turning a alternate shade of blue as she let loose yet another shrill cry.

     Harper acted quickly.  She found the pickaxe she had used to break the crystal, and then assaulted the dark figure with rabid swings.

     One of the swings made physical contact, to the surprise of Harper. The magic that had possessed a death-grip on the small foal broke, and an audible intake of air clarified that she was still alive.

     The beast squealed—determining that this prey was not worth the fight—and retreated towards the exit at a supernatural pace.

    Harper turned, looked at the older looking of the two unicorns and asked, “what...was that...thing?!”

    The foal returned her look, and collapsed.

    Harper looked at the two unconscious foals in front of her, “Ruby, keep watch on these two, I’m gonna take a breather.” And then Harper collapsed as well.

___   ____   ___

     Harper awoke on the cold stone floor hoping the past events were all a dream, but the flaming atronach hovering above the two foals said otherwise.

     “Ruby, did either of them wake up yet?” Harper asked groggily, rubbing her eyes.

     “No, the children are still sleeping.”  Ruby floated over towards Harper.

     Harper stood up, shaking the dirt out of her clothes.  She looked over at the two children, now sleeping peacefully in the places they fell after the fight with...whatever that thing was.  The smaller of the two still had black marks where the magic had tried to squeeze the life out of her.

     “Ruby, I’m going to see if anyone or anything is still outside.  Keep those two safe until I get back.”  Harper turned towards the exit and started off but Ruby quickly blocked his path.

     “Wait!” Ruby said, “What if they wake up while you’re gone?”

     Harper shrugged,”I don’t know.  Keep them warm—you’ll be good at that.” Harper chuckled as she altered her path around the flaming being.

     Ruby flamed up.  “Ha ha, very funny.” Ruby floated there and gave out a big huff.  She went back over near the kids.

     Harper made her way out. The cave had directed the blast of the crystal outwards, and luckily most if not all of the load bearing support beams survived the explosion.  Pickaxes and shovels littered the floor, evidence of the speed the cave had been evacuated.  An odd dust floated through the air giving the cave a sense of surrealness about it.  Harper climbed the last few feet to daylight and saw the full extent of the damage the crystal’s magic had caused.

    The area all around the cave opening was burnt, trees that had been cut down to clear the way for gem carts were still burning.  The only sign of equine presence was overthrown carts and tools strewn about the entrance.

    Harper grabbed a lamp from one of the carts and grabbed some dead branches from the trees and returned to the cave.

___   ____   ___

    “The young one is still asleep and the older one won’t speak to me at all.” Ruby complained. Harper had returned only seconds earlier with his supplies to find Ruby floating back and forth in the cavern, and the older of the sisters sitting against the wall staring at her.

    Harper sat next to the foal, and spoke. “Is Ruby scaring you?” Ruby flared, obviously hurt.

    The foal shook her head, but still wouldn't speak.  She had both wings and a horn, but her wings were snow white instead of the usual gray feathers.  Her sister’s wings were almost night black.

    Harper continued, “What is it then?”

    The foal turned her head and stared at her, and she spoke.  “It doesn't scare me, but I would rather not speak with it present.”

    Ruby burned hotter, “It!?” A ball of fire formed above Ruby’s right wing, but Harper raised her hoof to stop her.

    “Ruby, would you please return to your gem for a second.” Harper pleaded. She continued in her thoughts,“Its not like you won’t be able to hear her."

    “Yeah, yeah...” Ruby slipped back into the trinket that plopped to the ground, and Harper retrieved it from the dirt floor.

    “So what is it that you can’t say in front of my fiery friend?” Harper asked.

    “It...I mean she...looked real pretty.  The ones my father had didn't look as nice.” The trinket grew a little warmer in her bag, Harper knew she was blushing.

    “Your father, he knows where more of her kind are?”

    “Not anymore,” a small tear streamed down her face, but no more came.

    “What do you mean, anymore?” Harper looked confused.

    The white foal pointed towards what remained of the crystal, shards were scattered all over the floor.

    A pile of bonedust and a gilded robe was all that remained in the crystal.  Harper pointed at the pile, and another reluctant tear fell as she nodded.

    A gleam caught Harper’ eye as she examined the crystal. She jumped in through the hole she had made and saw it was the hilt of a sword, a rather long sword.  Harper cringed as she had to brush off some of the foal’s father to retrieve it.

    The sword handle was almost designed to hold in your mouth.  Harper latched the sword onto her back using the straps on her cuirass.  She took the robe too—but not to wear.  She wasn't going to leave one of the two things left of the foals’ father because it was too heavy.

    Harper walked back to the foal and leaned against the wall, “I never did get your name.”

    “My name is Celestia, and my sister’s is Luna.”  The foal turned, and looked over at her sister, still asleep.

    “Well Celestia, my name is Harper. Nice to meet you.”  Harper nodded and offered her hoof.  Celestia grabbed it and pulled herself up.

    Ruby’s voice resonated in his head, “She has both unicorn and pegasus blood?”

    “No, she isn't a half-breed. She already knows minor magical spells and I can only assume they know how to fly.”  Harper couldn't deny that there was something weird about these kids.

    “I feel great magical power radiating from both of them.  What did she say about more of my kind?” Ruby questioned.

    “Not much, she only mentioned her father could summon multiple at a time,” Harper continued.

    “That also sounds impossible.  Even the greatest of the Unicorn magicians can only summon one or two at a time.  And those are only mindless copies, Not magical beings fully capable of thought.  The only reason I’m able to sustain my presence in this world is because I was bound to this gem during my summoning.”  Ruby sounded somewhat flustered.

    "I know, and the only reason I have your gem is because I won a bet.” Harper accidentally spoke out loud.  Earning himself a weird look from Celestia.

    This time Harper meant to speak aloud, “So, you hungry?”

___   ___   ___

    The smaller sister was still rubbing the sleep out of her eyes as Harper lead them out of the cave.  Harper had to help her up the last steps because she was still tired.

    “How old are you to?” Harper asked.

    “I’m about a thousand two-hundred years old, and Luna is only about eight hundred and fifty years old.”

    “Wha, how are you that old?” Harper looked on, confused.

    “How old are you!?”  Celestia questioned.

    “Not nearly as old!” Harper answered, “How can you be that old?  Does that count the years that you were in that rock?”

    Luna yawned and tried to flutter into the air, drawing the eyes and attention of her sister.  She rose up but quickly landed again, falling to her knee and scrapping it.  Tears began to flow as Celestia ran over to her and chastised her.

    “You know you aren’t supposed to fly!  You shouldn’t even use your wings until you find a trainer!  Did you even listen to Mom?!”  Celestia picked up her sister and looked at her knee, which was slightly scratched.

    Luna just whimpered as her sister continued to ridicule her. Harper felt Ruby’s crystal glowing warmer again.

    “She treats her sister so harshly,” Ruby said.

    “Yeah,” Harper agreed in her head.  Then spoke aloud.  “Must you really treat your sister so harshly?  She just wanted to stretch her wings some.”

    Celestia turned, “Our mother specifically said for her to no fly in open areas because of her magical powers.” Suddenly Luna disappeared, leaving a slight depression where she vanished.

    Harper span rapidly, trying to see where the little foal had gone off to.  Celestia spoke up, but directed at her sister.

    “Now is not the time to feel scared.  We weren't fighting, were we?”  Celestia shot Harper a glance.

    “Yeah, I was just getting some bandages from my bag for your knee...” Harper added.  She reached her hoof into the bag and dug for the emergency kit she kept in it.  She pulled it out and held it in the air, unsure of where the little foal was.

    The little foal reappeared in the spot she had disappeared from.  She was still crying, but at least now she was visible again.

    Harper knelt down and held the bandages up to Luna’s knee.  She immediately recoiled from Harper’ touch.  Harper was unsure whether from the pain the scrape was causing her or just Harper touching her.

    Harper put her hoof on her shoulder, “Look, all I’m doing is trying to fix you up.  I’m not going to hurt you.”

    Harper again attempted to put the bandages on her knee.  Luna looked at her sister as Harper began to wrap her knee in the bandage cloth.

    Harper finished and stood.  She offered her hoof to Luna, which she very tentatively took hold of.

Celestia looked at the now setting sun, and turned to Harper. “How far did you say we still have to travel until we reach this town?”

    “At least another day’s travel.”

    “Then we might as well start setting up camp now then.” Celestia looked at her sister.  Luna was staring at Harper.

    Harper—uneasily—said, “Yeah, that seems like a good idea.  Ruby, would you get a fire started?”

    Ruby materialized from her gem and Harper prepared the firewood.  The two foals sat as the fire was prepared.  Luna’s gaze still rested on Harper as she rolled out three mats from her back.  Celestia noticed the golden instrument that now rested exposed where the mats used to cover it.

    “What is that thing on your back?” Celestia asked.

    Harper unclipped it from her cuirass and ran her hoof along the strings. “This? This is my ticket to paradise.  Its all I know how to do well.  Since that cave excavation kind of blew up in my face, I’m just going to go back to performing on the street again...”  Harper sat down on her mat and strummed some notes.

    “Would you play us a song?” Celestia asked, and looked over at her sister. “Maybe a lullaby?”

    “Sure, I’ll see what I can remember...um,” Harper played a chord and hummed the lowest note in tune then sung.

There once was a foal in the meadow,

whose eyes sparkled like stars in the sky.

Those who knew her live now in sorrow,

Because she had bid now goodbye.

-

There once was a foal in the meadow,

Whose eyes shone as bright as the sun.

She’d sing songs as I slept in my bedroom,

and I wish I could remember a one.

-

I knew a foal who lived in the meadow,

Her voice was as bright as the day

All who knew her now live in sadness,

because she has gone on her way

-

There once was a foal in the meadow,

whose eyes sparkled like stars in the sky.

Those who knew her live now in sorrow,

saying ‘why must the good always die!’...

    Harper stopped singing and looked at her audience.  Luna had fallen asleep on her mat during the second verse, and Celestia just stared at the ground in front of her.

    “Sorry. It wasn’t really a lullaby—but it was a song my father always sang to me about my mom before I went to bed.”  Celestia looked up from the ground.

    “You were young weren't you?”

    “Yes, I was.”

    Celestia reached over and brushed her sisters hair out of her face.  Luna looked peaceful now, not frightened at all as before.  Her chain-mail dress even clinked when her wings twitched, she was approaching cute.

    “Celestia, why hasn't your sister said a word since I released you two?”

    “That thing that attacked us.  I don’t know what it did, but it did something.  She seems tired all the time and always scared.  She only acts normal when she sleeps...”

    Luna let out a huge snore.  Harper chuckled as he wrapped himself in his covers, and Celestia did the same as they both fell asleep.