The door opened slowly and with a long creak. The sound was more than fitting to the situation, a dark night with barely any moonlight, an empty street and in the middle of it, the abandoned mansion. The single building was taller than the ones around it and threw a darker shadow down on the two ponies who had dared to seek entrance. Of course, the door would open with a creak, like in any good ghost story.
The two crystal ponies looked at each for a moment, as if to make sure the other won't back out on a dare or a death pact.
Crystal Note took a last deep breath and walked through the door into the mansion and her former home, back when she was still an earth pony called Harmony. Rose Quartz, her sister in everything but blood, followed right after.
They didn't talk, they didn't need words right now. Crystal Note took in everything she was able to make out in the sparse light and images from her memory easily filled the details. The entrance hall looked the same, as did the main room. The only thing that had changed was the thick layer of dust that covered everything and proved that nopony had been here for over a decade. Crystal Note almost expected the place would have been raided of anything of value, but Rose Quartz knew better. She knew that the crystal ponies still shunned the house like it was haunted.
Crystal Note realized that she was looking at the small library. Her father's collection had not been large or expensive, but a few rare tomes had made their way into his possession, enough for the unicorn stallion to feel proud about.
Crystal Note frowned. Her father had been more proud of his books than he had ever been at his own daughter.
She walked further into the room, careful not to bump into anything. She didn't really know why though, it was not like she could damage anything and even if, who would even care?
She passed the single row of shelves, her hooves took her through the familiar route towards the stairs. She didn't notice this, her mind was busy filling in gaps with scenes from her past. She noticed a few dents in the sturdy wooden furniture and her thoughts grew dark when she remembered where they came from.
"We should have brought a lantern. Or better yet, we should have come after sunrise when there's light."
Rose Quartz' voice pulled her out of her memories and Crystal Note turned her head towards her sister who was still standing near the door
"I doubt I would have gotten any sleep tonight either way. This is better than waiting even longer."
"Crissy, all we'll get from lurking in the dark at this place are nightmares."
"I didn't need to come here for those, you know."
Crystal Note sighed deeply and looked up the stairs, where she knew were more rooms full of bad memories waiting for her. Her sister was right, they'd not gain anything from staying in the dark
"Pinky, do you trust me?"
"With my life."
The answer came immediate, not a sliver of hesitation or doubt in her sister's voice. For Crystal Note, this was the spark of hope she needed in a dark place like this. No matter how thick the shadows grew around her, she always had her sister who believed in her.
Crystal Note closed her eyes and focused. She mumbled a few syllables under her breath and her unicorn horn glowed in a turquoise light as she channelled magic with it.
On the tip of the horn, a small ball of light appeared. It wasn't the biggest or brightest light orb ever, but it pierced through the darkness of the room.
Crystal Note reopened her eyes cautiously. She stared at her light spell and after a few moments of biding, she knew it was stable enough for her to move.
Rose Quartz stared at the light from the distance. It wasn't like she had never seen magic before, she was an advisor of Princess Cadance after all. The young princess and her unicorn husband often fell back on magic for several tasks of the day.
Still, seeing a crystal pony, her sister for star's sake, wield this foreign power, it scared her more than she was willing to admit. She had seen what dark magic could do to a pony and she had witnessed crystal ponies crumble under its influence.
The sisters' gazes met again and within a heartbeat, all of Rose Quartz' worries dissipated like fog. Crystal Note's eyes were clear, open and honest, just like they had always been. Right now, they were concerned and worried of her reaction and behind that, Rose Quartz saw fear and anxiety with roots deeper than her own.
Almost angry with herself for a moment, Rose Quartz crossed the room so she stood next to her sister. In the light of the magic orb, fluffs of dust waved through the room.
Their shoulders touched and they smiled. Rose Quartz knew Crystal Note would never use her magic to hurt anypony. She never had been and never would be a pony who succumbed to power that easily. Crystal Note knew that her sister would always accept her and support her. She had done so when she was an earth pony among crystal ponies and would do the same now that she had a horn.
They knew a short moment of doubt would not be enough to weaken the bond they shared. They didn't need to say so either, they understood well without words.
Rose Quartz started climbing the stairs to the upper floor
"Since we're here to stir up shadows, we might as well do it right."
Crystal Note nodded and sent the orb to float ahead and light their way. Rose Quartz turned her head to throw her sister an appreciative smile. She reached the top of the stairs and stepped aside to let Crystal Note take her side again.
All the doors to the rooms stood open. Crystal Note immediately turned to a door on the far left. She carefully peeked inside and the light orb floated into her old room.
The room was far too big for a single filly. The furniture was still intact and stood in its place. She didn't dare take a step inside somehow, so she directed the orb out of the room again and carefully closed the door. This time, there was no creak and the door gently fell shut.
Rose Quartz gently put her hoof on her sister’s shoulder. Crystal Note turned around and nodded. Together, they stepped down the hallway and Crystal Note’s eyes scanned the rooms while she matched them with her memories. Bathroom, library, bedroom, guestroom (never used even once; her father was not a pony to have friends he could invite to his home) and finally they stood in front of her father’s old study.
If there were anything of worth to find, it would be in here.
Crystal Note pushed the light into the room and walked in. This room looked different, finally. Her father had always had a strict rule of tidiness in the house, but the office was messy. Scrolls lay everywhere, on the ground and on every piece of furniture, broken quills and empty inkpots in between. The desk was covered in what had to be multiple layers of books, scrolls and papers.
Crystal Note shook her head in disbelief
“I’d never thought he would end up like this. He hated it when even one piece of paper wasn’t neatly stacked, but this… it’s the complete opposite of him.”
Rose Quartz only frowned
“I’ve seen him lurking around in the palace after your disappearance. The king barely even bothered with him anymore once he had his crystal unicorns, but he followed him around like a dog. He just lost it.”
Crystal Note swallowed hard and pressed out half a question
“Do you know what happened when…?”
Rose Quartz’ frown grew darker
“He was sent to defend the Empire against Canterlot’s first attack. Something about ‘proving his worthiness on the battlefield’.”
Crystal Note closed her eyes tightly and shivered
“He wasn’t a fighter. He was arrogant and pushy, but he never fought against somepony who could even remotely return his attack.”
“The king knew this. He wasn’t supposed to return.”
Rose’ voice stayed even, she felt no pity for the stallion who failed at being a father to his daughter. Crystal Note just shivered more and her coat changed into a darker grey. Despite everything that had happened, that stallion was still her father, even if she stopped calling him that long ago.
Rose Quartz walked deeper into the room and picked up random parchments. Most of them she only glanced at, a few she started to read but then stacked them orderly. After almost ten years of working as a maid, a messy room like this made her hooves just itch.
Crystal Note stayed close to the door, but she picked up some leftover papers as well. The writing on most of them was too messy to decipher, occasionally she understood some random words, but even then, they seemed gibberish. She didn’t know what to think.
Her head turned to her sister who by now had freed the large desk from most of books and papers. Apparently, she found nothing, since she just shrugged
“Nothing in here either. Though I’m not sure what we’re looking for anyways.”
Crystal Note nodded and sighed
“I guess I was hoping to find some answers. Reasons for what happened.”
She closed her eyes and nearly chocked
“Maybe something from my mother.”
Rose Quartz didn’t know what to say, so she just opened the drawers of the desk in vain hope she might find anything. Both of them were empty. She reached inside, checking for a false bottom or anything.
Crystal Note on the other side of the room watched, but soon frowned confused. Rose Quartz was checking very thoroughly, so why did she...?
“Why did you skip the middle drawer?”
Rose turned back to her, equally confused
“What middle drawer? There’s only two?”
Crystal Note blinked a couple of times and sent the light orb to the desk. A sharp gasp from Rose made her freeze on the spot
“It just appeared! Out of nowhere!”
Crystal Note made a careful step closer
“Rose?”
“Crissy, I swear there were only two, and now there’s another drawer! How? Why?”
Crystal Note walked closer and suddenly felt a certain tingle in the back of her head. Her eyes opened wide when she realized what that meant.
Following her suspicion, she let go of her light spell and the room turned dark except a few patches of moonlight. Rose Quartz gasped again when the middle drawer disappeared in front of their eyes
“What is this thing?”
Crystal Note reached out and her hoof felt the invisible drawer. She searched for a handle, but when she found it, she couldn’t pull it open. She could, however, feel the tingle clearly now
“It has to be enchanted or something.”
Rose stared at her with wide-open eyes
“With magic? Is it booby-trapped or something?”
Crystal Note frowned and closed her eyes as she focused on the slight tingle
“It… it doesn’t feel dangerous. I think it’s just meant to hide it.”
She channelled her magic and called another light orb, and as she expected the drawer reappeared in the magical light.
Rose Quartz took a step back but Crystal Note pulled the drawer open, slowly and carefully. They waited for a moment or two, but nothing happened. With a look at each other, they nodded and leaned closer to look inside.
They saw a single tome in a leather binding and Crystal Note gasped
“It’s his journal. He always had it with him.”
“And it must be important if he used magic to hide it.”
They nodded and Crystal Note’s horn glowed again. She carefully picked up the tome with her magic and waited. There was no reaction, so she picked it up with her hooves. She was still new to this whole spellcasting and managing even levitation on top of a light spell was hard.
She set the book on the desk and after a moment of hesitation, she opened the lid. She immediately recognized the sharp and accurate writing of the stallion. The date on the first page went far back, even before Crystal Note’s birth. She hesitated for a moment but then flipped through the pages, looking for the last entries. She would read of the stallions past eventually, but not now. Tonight, she was looking for closure on something else.
As she worked through the book, she noticed the writing getting sloppier the further she went. The entries were getting shorter as well, as if they had only been thrown down in haste. She was skimming through the words when they reached the final pages but she could barely even decipher the newest entries and when she could, the words made little sense, just like on the random notes that were scattered around
“No matter how hard, it won’t be enough.”
“There was no seeing it this time. The rook was right.”
“No blame for those who never try.”
It was strange reading those words from that stallion. There was a lack of focus and direction in them. The stallion always had a goal to work towards, something he tried to achieve for his own benefit. She found it hard to believe that he would just let go of the trait that had him driving for most of his life.
She flipped another page and found one last long entry, spread over multiple pages. The writing was shaky, but readable. Rose Quartz stepped closer to Crystal Note when she felt her sister start to shiver and pressed against her side.
In a soft and trembling voice, she began to read aloud
“At last it seems I am at wits end here. Whatever dark influence the King has on me, it is growing stronger with each day and I lose more and more hours of my days in a haze of mist. Moments of clarity are rare and the fact it took me weeks to form enough words to even make this entry speaks volumes of my lacking ability to resist.
The King had seeds of fear and doubt planted in the crystal scum that fills this rotten city long before my arrival. Some of them with mere words and actions, others instilled with a magic so dark it even penetrates the void that fills my dreams ever since.
My own magic managed to stop the King’s influence on my own thoughts, so I believed. Or maybe it did not and he chose for me to believe this. I found that I have stopped caring on which is true. I received the life of a lord, as I deserved, a unicorn noble of my standings and ability considered a god amongst the common trash of crystal ponies. In this game of power, when he was the King, I was his knight and bishop while they were not even to be considered as pawns. In Canterlot, I had to scheme and plot my way towards the top, but here I was the top and could command everything and anything, as long as I kept the King’s requests above my own.
Drunken on power however, I did not see the war. At my Kings orders, armies were forged and plans were made, yet little of a campaign to actually fight the oppressive forces of two immortal princesses in the city of marble and ivory. Toy soldiers to be sent against another, ants fighting ants in the games my King favoured.
Again, I do not know if I noticed the change too late or if I was made to not notice. Again, I care not why. The King’s insanity rooted deeply and fuelled the dark magic. The city crumbled, economy staggered as every resource available fell into military expansion.
As doubts grew in my mind, I stayed. My head was clear enough to think about fleeing, abandoning the Empire I ruled to avoid being crushed in its demise. Foolish is the only word I have for not going through with it.
Now the waves of war crush against the shore of the city. Skirmishes at the borders, pegasi crossing the skies regularly, even if they yet have to reach city limits. No way out for me any longer to be seen. As my will crumbles to the King’s influence and my magic escapes my control, in this last moment of clarity I realize that this war will claim my life.
It pains me to admit but I should have been sure to make escape when my daughter disappeared. Harmony is abrasive, uncouth and violent, but her instincts are sharp. Dumb as a brick formed of the mud she was bound to, she never ended up tangled in a fight she could not handle. Never once did her actions cause her to suffer consequences she was unable to bear. She made herself a name, a rank in the masses of crystal scum by squashing her foes on the streets. If not for her stupidity and her illogical compulsion to find company in those she could have ruled, the mud pony might have been a useful tool, perhaps even an ally.
As I feel my time ending, regret takes a hold on me. I could have found a way out before it was too late, certainly. But my regret reaches far deeper and just that.
My wife haunts me, in my hours of wake and sleep. The pony who saw my vision of greatness and encouraged me rather than tried to bring me down, as any other noble did. She passed, she was torn away from me by that foal.
She was a mud pony, but you, my Love, looked at her with shining eyes as if she was the most beautiful thing in the world. Memories and visions of you grow hazy, but the words you said when you chose her name remain untainted and clear
“When life is music and love is the rhythm we dance to, she is Harmony to our song.”
I kept the name, your name for her, and I took her with me. I hoped to find something of you inside her, something to soothe the pain your loss ignited inside me. Whenever I looked at her, I could see nothing but the thing that took you away from me. The foal destroyed my path of glory in Canterlot before she could even talk. I brought her to the Empire, a last chance to find use in her existence other than to cause me pain.
Now she is gone but the pain remains. Maybe if I had reached out, I could have found something of the pony I love in the filly. I will never find out. Another fact for the list of things I don’t care about anymore.
As pathetic as it is, I fear the death that lies ahead of me, even if it will end this pain and misery. I should have slipped out the back before he knew I was there, at the least I would not see he does not care. I do not want to be around when it all comes down. Even heroes know when to be scared, but I am no hero. All I do is worry and feel out of control, to the point where I begin at the end. I am running around in circles again and time runs out on me.
If you ever read this, please remember this is not how I hoped it would be, but I had to protect you from me. That is why I slipped out the back before you saw I was there. I know the way I left you was not fair. I could not be around just to bring you down with me. I am not a hero but do not think I really care.”
The last words turned more and more sloppy and the words seemed strange, disconnected.
Crystal Note flipped over but only found empty pages after this. She stared at the last lines for what felt to her like hours. Then the book was slammed shut by a turquoise glow.
Rose Quartz blinked as the light orb flashed brightly before vanishing. By the time she could make out directions in the dark, she already heard the sound of hooves running down the stairs. She followed as quickly as she could but when she reached the front door, all she could hear were echoes from the alleys. She called out for her sister, but Crystal Note was already out of reach.
With a frustrated sigh, she closed the door to the twice-damned mansion and made her way back towards the palace.