//------------------------------// // Sowing of Seeds // Story: MLP: The Stone in our Hearts // by legendary_Jelly //------------------------------// life, is a fickle thing. for everypony here its super easy to be stone cold when that is just what we are stone. I grew up my whole life a blank flank never finding my talent. My mother has never said it to my face but sometimes I overhear her say things that shatter my confidence. when I was around 17, I was tasked with going into the mines and seeing what I can help with. I lasted a quarter of the time I was supposed to, before I was medically discharged. I couldn't tell you what happened if I tried to, my body had a stroke, but the Keepers of Care, the KC, could not find any evidence in my body that I did have one. after 5 'episodes' in a row I was sent back to find out what was happening. the best thing the KC could tell me was I was having a conversion disorder. I have these 'spells' every now and then, but nothing can be done except giving medistone and seeing was it does. Of course, like ponies, nothing changes. "until now" I stand frozen in the chambers that holds The Two, the stone carved into an intricate cathedral with the Risen Love at the forefront. the massive gemstone that gives magic to the life around it, was under heavy inspection. I was standing behind the crowd, but I still saw the point of interest. the purple heart, the source of energy, had a fissure spreading diagonally across the surface. the soft glow that accompanied it was now dark insomuch that only the sharpest eyes could see. Coming out of the crack were bolts of magical electricity that shunned all who came too close, so a perimeter was kept around it. Hysterical cries were heard all throughout, the tragedy of our deity being disgraced had traveled far, fast. this, this was our protector, our lifeline, the source of all the magic that we non magical ponies poses. The two ponies within the heart were on either side of the crack. A clear sign of this heresy. they are supposed to be together so that the love and friendship they have for each other could have its full reaction with the star magic around them. But now they lie opposite of each other, their turmoil and hate for this fact clearly shown through the sparks and zaps around them. And yet I feel a pull. A yearning to be One. After Max had made Sure I was ok after the quake, he swiftly left to go and secure his family and home, leaving me at the temple. Which left me to walk towards the Two unaccompanied. As I push past stunned Keepers and walk around deadpanned Wardens, weeping Torches and uncomforted ponies, my eyes are locked on my destination. I get no attention as I stop at the edge of the crowd, my head tilted ever so slightly and my mouth ajar. I have seen the more curious ponies get too close and get what looks like a painful zap, but as I stand close to too close, my fears are quelled in such a way that I start to take my next step. "Hey, look another one", a more rebellious pony says off to the side, waiting to laugh at another's pain. Its Time I stop my approach mid step, shaken by the voice/thought. I hear the pony scoffing at my apprehensiveness, but he sounds far off. We can no longer wait suddenly the commotion around me stops and I am alone in the temple. Come closer, touch the star Clarity enters my mind as I continue my stride, faint shouts of the ponies behind me roll off into nothingness as I strut to the Two. magical energy bursting around me in brilliant color as the lightning goes to hit me but is redirected by an invisible hoof. I can see the crack fully now. I can see that it goes all the way through into the heart. I raise my hoof up to touch the fissure, but I stop before I touch. We have much to discuss The two ponies' eyes open with blinding white light as I am pulled, by some unbelievably strong force, into the gemstone, which absorbs me like water, and my vision fades. ***** “A long time ago,” A voice said in my head. “Before the moon had a mare, before the ruling of the two Sisters,” “Before even Equestria had a name” I had been here before “There once was a battle, a feud between the inhabitants of the land” I saw before me the vision that Nuro had shown me. I watched before me the horror of what I saw again. the biggening, the fight, the out casts, the anger, the pains. To my dismay I felt it again. “But the magic of the wendigos is not so easily beat by distance.” I saw the proto town that was covered in snow. “Our communities were strong and our friendship true, yet we were cold and beginning to starve.” I was going through this sorrow again. “But” it said, “there was a sad hope.” My attention was directed to a small dark blue colt with short blue hair and a filly with a green coat and long red hair. “Two little ponies, who’s love for each other was strong, knew they had to do something, they could not sit and watch as the families who raised them suffer. They would sacrifice anything for the ones they loved. They snuck off often, against the advice from anypony, to find food, on one of the hunts for food they journeyed into the mountain. something about the vision changed, I no longer felt all that I saw, instead I was thrusted into the eyes of a colt.                         ---\______/--- I saw the green filly ahead of me climbing up a rock. She was wearing a thin cotton coat that looked way too cold for the environment, but it seemed like it did not bother her. She had a cutie mark that was a rose with oversized thorns on it. “Rosebud, I think we shouldn’t be this far away, you know our moms worry enough as it is” I said, or he said? (We?) the colts voice was high with a bit of raspiness.  “Raspberry Cream is that hesitation I hear?” the filly (Rosebud) turned around and looked at me, no looked at Raspberry with a look of guile. Her voice was smooth and calm. The sense of hesitation that raspberry felt went away as he took in the beauty of the filly.  “No,” I (we) sighed “but we are pretty far up here, look” I pointed down the hill towards the snow-covered shacks, that looked like small dots of brown amongst white. Ahead of me, Rose called out: “ ha HA I knew it, Ras come look at this!” I trotted over to see what she was looking at. She was looking down behind a rock “I knew those gem berries had to have come from somewhere!  “Woah” I said as I looked to see a small opening that peered into a large expanse strangely lit up with yellow light “A cave!”  “Not just any cave! Look at the source of the light!” Upon further looking I noticed what she saw “Gem berries! Come on, let's go get some!” she reached into her saddle bag and brought out a rope.  “Woah, where did you get that?”  “Well, your dad is the town woodsman.” With a devious smile she wrapped the rope around the rock.  While shaking my head I said, “pretty like a flower but pointy like thorns," my heart fluttered as I chuckled. “Just the way I like it.”  She looked at me with the rope around her waist. “Oh, stop it you goofball you’re making me blush.” with that she jumped down the hole repelling down “stay up there I need you to pull me back up!”  “Ok but make it quick, it's almost sunset. '' Looking down the hole I saw her hit the bottom and headed to the closest clump.  “looks like they grow on vines!” she yelled up. After a little while of collecting, she stopped to have a taste. “Ohhhhh Raas you have got to try this, it's so much better fresh!” In the distance I heard a rock hit the ground, echoing in the cave.  “Ras? Did you hear that?” she stood frozen, looking off.  “Yeah… you should probably get out of there, it's getting dark.”  “Right.”  On her way to the rope another noise arose, this time the sound was almost like glass breaking but with no other shards hitting the ground. The sound was short and didn’t echo.  “Rose!” I yelled “hurry” even before she got to the rope I started pulling. My strength not failing me when she jumped on and grabbed the rope with her teeth.  Out of the corner of my eye I saw a light blue blur on the wall of the cave coming around to the rope. Panicked, I started pulling faster.  The blur jumped off the wall and just for a second, I saw clearly what it was. Raspberry had never seen it before, but I knew it well. To me I knew this creature as Skrall, a crystal dog-like beast of the underground, that often plagues deep mines (what was it doing so far up?) It jumped into midair heading towards the rope, as it neared it put its sharp hand/arm behind it and slashed the rope. Rose went tumbling down and hit the ground hard, the sharp crack of bones cracking and screaming filled the cave as the creature landed on the wall. It turned its one eye to me and screeched a horrible flat scream that sounded like it was underwater and raced up the wall to the hole where I peered in. “ROSE!” I step back and spin to prepare myself to buck the lines out of the beast. I can hear it getting closer, almost almost… aaand, nothing. Nothing came out of the hole. I go to look back down the hole, only that there is no hole. “What!?” I frantically search around for any sign of the hole, but I can't find any “Rose!” I yelled at the ground. I pranced around looking for anything under the snow “Rose!!” Nothing. Gone. lost. I fall to my flank. A tear starts to form in my eye. Deflated, I ask nopony, in particular “Rose?”                       ---\______/---          My vision is ripped from the colt’s eyes, and I see him below me, I get a good look at the sobbing colt. His cutie mark was a bottle of cough syrup with a bush growing out of it. My attention moved to the rock floor around him.  “What happens next would change the course of history” the soft disembodied voice returned. I zoomed down into the rock and came out on the other side, heading straight to the filly who lay on her back writhing in pain. I notice that her hind legs aren’t moving on their own. And I am forced behind her eyes.             --\______/--- The first thing I felt was the pain, then I heard somepony scream, wait, that screaming was from me. it felt like my upper back was being torn to shreds perpetually, oddly the pain stopped at… oh no, we started to panic as we realized we could not move our hind quarters; the screaming turned from a death scream to a scream of terror. “AHዙዙH, AU⋃ሀυggh, aiiigggh, noo nonono, arrrrggghh.'' The smooth calm voice was replaced with a crackled voice gurgling through the blood dripping down her muzzle. “RASPBERRY” I (we) said desperately, my breathing was deep. Looking up I could not find the hole. The pain was slowly drowning away as my body fell into the pain. “HEEEELP”  There was no reply. I was starting to panic. Suddenly I remembered the beast, something clicked inside me. As I started to slow down my breathing “Ok rose” I said inwardly “you're alone, and… ‘hurt’,” I could not bring myself to say it “and surrounded. Stay calm” my back was still screaming with pain, I could feel myself wanting to pass out, I looked around to take inventory of my surroundings. “Berries, rocks, and more berries” “Ugh” “I'm doomed” I laid back down and closed my eyes. Darkness taking over me  “Maybe… a nap…..                     ***** When I came to, my vision was moving along the cave, rocks passing by. The occasional berry vine lit up the delve. I looked around to try to see what was happening. Or at least I tried. My eyes shot wide open when I realized I could not move. “Heeooo?” I tried to say ‘hello’ but my mouth wouldn't move. We stopped, and I was plopped on the ground, muzzle first. I may not be able to move but I can still taste the dirt. (yuck) I was pushed over to face the thing that was carrying me. It was the Skrall! It had a head with one eye that spanned the face of the, well, face. In one of the crystal hands that it had, it held a green stone and brought it up to my face, the stone bled out a green gas, as it bled the stone turned into a gem Rose did not know anything, but to me this was mind blowing, a skrall using an absorption stone? Unheard of! As the gas entered my lungs, my vision began to fade, and vertigo took over.                    ***** I opened my eyes to a bright light, and I shrinked back. (was I dead?). My body felt cold, and stiff like I haven't moved in a while. With a hoof up to my eyes I slowly opened them. When my eyes adjusted to the light around me, I was struck with beauty. In front of me I saw something magnificent. A giant round blue crystal that had tails of crystals above it. It was half in the cave wall behind it, it had a tear-shaped gem pointed down in the wall, it was glowing with a purple energy. Where the gem touched the ground there were smaller outcroppings of jewels and brilliant stones that seemed to grow away from the point of the purple jem, seemingly flowing out from it, its influence spreading over the whole room.  The gem started to grow a little brighter, and for some reason i felt like it could feel that i was beholding it “Hello, little one” I hear from behind me. I turn my head to see the creature that was carrying me standing over me, its eye-face staring right at me. My initial instinct it to run but there was a calm about the situation that i was in that disarmed me The skrall’s head started to glow, with it came a voice. “Do not be afraid, I will not hurt you”                ---\______/--- My vision was pulled from her eyes and started to rise in the cavern, from what I could see a conversation ensued. My vision was obscured by the ceiling as I rose. When I emerged on the other side the ground was covered in snow and the blue colt was clearing away the snow with a shovel. He had a pickaxe on his back. And I was pulled behind his eyes               ---\______/--- With the pickaxe in my mouth, and running on the strength of hope and determination I hit the ground. CLINK… CLINK… CLINK… Chunk after chunk came off the ground. CHINK… CHINK… CHINK… The sound became more and more hollow. CHUNK… CHUNK… CHUNK… I was so close, I could feel it, like physically feel it. CHENK CHUNK My body was sore, I was chilled to the bone. It was deep into the night and I was tired. The only thing keeping me going was the image of Rose looking at me with that danged smile that i fell for, a mischievous smile that told of adventure CLUNK… CLUNK… I took a deep breath and hit with all my fury. CRAANK My ax was sunk deep into the stone and there it lay stuck.  CCRRR KKK A web spread from the point of impact and surrounded me  “uuuh.”  The cracks shot from the web in all directions. “UUUUH!”  I frantactly looked around as the chaos around me unfolded. It all stopped in a moment of calm.                                           Before the floor was no more.