Since a lot of people have wondered how I would have incorporated The Crystal Empire into the world of Fallout: Equestria, and what my headcanon for it is in the setting, I wanted to share some of what I have been doing with the setting in my online roleplaying game "Fallout: Beyond Equestria". (This is one of the games I am running, playtesting the Fallout: Equestria roleplaying game rules.)

Because of the length of this, I will be splitting this into two parts, posting the second part next week.

Responsibility.

It is the duty of those who lead a nation to serve and protect their citizens. To help them grow, and to shield them from harm. Much like the sequester spell and the pylon fence were meant to shield the crystal ponies from outside aggressors in their time of vulnerability.

But the true leaders of the Crystal Empire, Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor, have long ago vanished. And the custodians that they left behind, the simulacrums called Doctor Amore and Professor Paladin, have failed in their responsibilities. Guidance has become a straightjacket and protection a prison.

There is no growth.

Instead, the Crystal Ponies exist in status and stagnation while the empire which was once their home crumbles. The Crystal Empire lies in ruins. Not from a megaspell, but from the collapse of order, centuries long, which has left only the desperate, the wicked and the insane as its only inhabitants.

Now, heroes stand poised to reverse this tragedy. Their adventures in this place have made them allies: Butterfly, the living computer who attends the Equestrian Embassy (and Ministry of Peace hub), Sweet-E, the living computer who was once the tour guide for a Stable-Tec computer and securities R&D facility, and Pink-E, the curious pink sprite-bot and self-proclaimed Official Welcome Party Spritebot. Not to mention having established friendly contact with a community of zebras, descendents of prisoners of war.

And minutes ago, having faced his deadly Crystal Battle Ewes, they confronted Professor Paladin and convinced him to give up the Crystal Heart.

Cast:

Golden Dream (aka "Kid") (Earth Pony) - played by Fridge

Get Lost Solaris (Earth Pony) - played by Mimizinga

CopyCat (Green Alicorn) - played by uSea

Shatara (Griffin) - played by Eridani

Noble Heart (Purple Alicorn) - played by Illushia

Bookwright (Unicorn) - played by Scorch_Mechanic

Previously:

Pink-E swoops out of Kid's saddlebags, the strange pink spritebot giving a burst of fanfare from its oversized speakers. "Yay! We have the Crystal Heart! Now everything's going to be better, right?"

Get Lost nods. "Probably. If we can talk the princessbot into reverting the love sucking process from the ponies and wake them...."

Noble Heart frowns. "First, We suggest some time to rest. We have done much this day and would like to meet with Doctor Amore when properly revitilized."

Kid frowns. "As ya'll wish. Just keep a real close eye on it. We don't want it stolen."

Get Lost reminds her companions, "Still, we need that juke-box monster to open a passage in the city's forcefield. And I'd like to check the hospital for more personal and less important matters"

She touches the metal visor here her eyes should be. Her visit to the Crystal Empire involved a more personal, physical trauma than the others had suffered. But she pushed that aside for now.

Kid nods at Get Lost, the only pony she considers to be not staring at plot or playing oblivious. "That c'n wait 'till we muster up the strength t' head out."

Noble Heart frowns and nods her head. "We are not certain how finding the jukebox will go. But that is the... Erm... Heart of Heartless territory." The Solaris weapons factory.

The gentle voice of Sweetie Belle emanates from the small speaker of the repurposed RD-E prototype security spritebot. Sweet-E hesitantly admits, "I don't think I want to go there." The Heartless are bad ponies. Very, very, very bad. And Solaris… she is Stable-Tec. She doesn’t want to think of anyone as “enemy”, but Solaris is Solaris.

The noble purple alicorn nods in response. During their excursion into the Advanced Security Division of the Stable-Tec research facility here, Noble Heart and Bookwright had gleaned of its existence through messages recovered from the many quite-functional terminals. Threading through the security logs and memos was a growing paranoia about the Solaris factory on the other side of the Crystal Empire. What started as reminders of increased vigilance and a few comments anticipating industrial espionage slowly escalated into weekly drills, increased orders for security robots... and even wild speculation of secret Solaris superweapons.

Not the least of which being a rumor that Solaris was turning jukeboxes into crystal-shattering sonic weapons. A “bass cannon” as Bookwright had jested. Something that could be modified to disable the pylons and shut down the parameter fence.

But that will be something for later, Noble Heart decides firmly. Once they have helped the Crystal Ponies. The others agree.

Bookwright "Then... maybe we should give the Crystal Heart to Doctor Amore and have her wake the sleepers."

CopyCat stretches her hooves. At rest did sound good. "I don't think you two should go there either,” she says, looking at the two spritebots. “We should bring you to the hospital first, like Get said, so you can visit Butterfly."

Shatara pulls his Equestrian Army Today from his bags. "I'll uh...just be over there..."

Fallout: Beyond Equestria

Sessions 56: Northern Blues (Parts 39)

--- Session Begins ---

A long day transitions in to a surprisingly restful night as, for once, Professor Paladin seems content to leave the air free of proclamations and rantings. After the first hour, Doctor Amore seems to notice the difference, and, by the end of the second hour, she too has slipped into silence.

The roof of the Crystal Tower, where the group has bedded down, rises high above the spread of ruins and crystal rubble, safely out of reach of the wandering threats below: the crazed brainbots, the Crystal Battle Ewes and the monstrosities that Solaris bread as “home security pets”… and, of course, the Heartless. Up here, there is only the cool air and the hard surface of the Crystal Tower to surround them as they sleep.

Bookwright snores gently. As are many of the Followers of the Apocalypse, the unicorn archivist is accustomed to sleeping in rougher wilderness than this.

The group awaken, one by one, to the fresh rays of sunrise, and the smell of Pink-E cooking. You don't know where she got the ingredients she is working with, or how many times she has cheerfully refused to let Sweet-E help, but it smells delicious.

Kid shifts and grumbles awake, tossing her mane out of her eyes and readjusting her hat so that it didn't block her vision. Funny, for such a nice, quiet night, she didn't seem like she has slept well. She stretches tensely, then goes to find out just what the heck Pink-E was cooking. "Mornin'."

Noble Heart slowly awakens with a yawn and climbs to her hooves. "The first good night’s sleep We have had since We arrived."

CopyCat yawns and gets to her hooves sleepily. She sniffed the air and followed her nose towards Pink-E's cooking.

Shatara snores in the corner, pawing at the air occasionally, with his book draped across his chest.

Pink-E breaks into song as she's cooking. The lyrics are a recipe for s'mores put to rhyme. True enough, she seems to have put together the major ingredients of s'mores... or a close approximation thereof... and is roasting colorful marshmellows over a pile of burning terminal directories.

Bookwright turns over and mumbles. "Jus' fife murr minutes.... ma'am..."

Noble Heart blinks in some surprise. "Where did you find the supplies for this?"

Pink-E giggles. "Inside the castle." Then sings, "S'mores! S'mores! S'mores!"

CopyCat licks her lips. "They smell delicious, Pink-E. Oh, good morning Noble Heart and Sweet-E."

Sweet-E makes a greeting chime in response.

Noble Heart yawns again, stretching a few moments. "Well, We are impressed to see it."

Bookwright puts his pillow over his head

Kid blinks as she stares into the S'more. She had a long standing policy of not eating anything where the answer to "Where did you get this?" was "I don't know." It saved her life a couple of times. But even though her policy would've probably mentioned something of not taking food from strange robots, this was a weird enough week that such a thing was permitted to slide. As she proceeded to make a s'more into nothing more than a few crumbs and a bit of melted chocolate, or at least, what she hoped was chocolate, she couldn't help but feel a little worried about the task ahead. "Noble. You still got the Crystal Heart?"

CopyCat tilts her head. "Will they be ready soon? Should I wake the others for breakfast?"

Noble Heart checks her bags. "Yes. We are still carrying the artifact of arguably-divine power." She sets about making herself one of the s'mores as well.

Kid nods slightly, visibly worried and maybe a tad bedraggled. "Good. 'Cause we don' wanna lose that." Her voice was not hostile, but there was a air of tenseness, like she expected everything to go wrong any moment now.

The sugar in the marshmellows has crystalized... or perhaps they were always this way in the Crystal Empire. But aside from the marshmellows giving the s'mores a weird texture, and the staleness of the crackers, the breakfast is actually quite good

Noble Heart eats another. "It is perhaps a bit higher on sugar than Our prefered breakfast. But We cannot complain too much."

CopyCat chews on a smore and goes to wake the others. "Shatara, Bookwright," she calls out, "breakfast is ready."

Bookwright groans softly, and gets up. He blinks heavily, as if shifting tectonic plates.

Shatara snortflails a bit, his book falling off his chest...with a certain magazine sticking out between the pages.

Bookwright yawns. "Must we...? Fine." He begins to eat.

Kid tilts her head over to Shatara and deadpans when she spots the magazine. "We're about t' give an artifact of huge power t' a thing to unfreeze thousands of ponies, and you're lookin' at butts." Her voice wasn't full of vitriol. But it was totally full of judgement.

CopyCat raises her eyebrow at the magazine but doesn't say anything.

Bookwright looks up at Sweet-E. "This is really good. Do you have any coffee, or tea?"

Sadly, the answer is no. Although Bookwright knows where he can get some later: the Equestrian Embassy (and Ministry of Peace hub -- the only Ministry hub, he noted, in the entire Crystal Empire) had a truly divine and almost entirely untouched collection of refreshments. Including, marvelously, coffee. But that was a good distance away (and a long way down!) from his breakfast.

Shatara half-awarely blinks at kid, mind still fuzzy. Glancing downward, he notices his book and squawks with alarm, flailing about to gather it up and shove it in his pack.

Kid just rolls her eyes and smirks a little. Well, at least he's easy to figure out.

Get Lost sits and noms something, while mumbling to herself.

Time passes, breakfast s'mores are eaten, and the sun pulls itself higher into the sky. The colors and shadows of sunrise slowly fade into the blues and greys of a new day. The rising sun catches on hundreds of thousands of shattered crystals across the empire ruins, creating a blinding sea of light.

Noble Heart frowns slightly and sighs. "We hope this turns out well. We do not wish to see another tragedy of such a scale."

Kid crooks an eye at Noble. "What was th' first big tragedy you seen?"

Bookwright speaks up. "Was it the moment you woke up and realized you weren't part of the Many anymore?"

Noble Heart looks down to Kid and frowns. "When the world burned and all things which were once great died." She turns from the fire to move towards the stairs.

Get Lost turns her head towards Noble Heart "Is that a memory of yours or something you collected from the collective mind, if I may ask?"

Noble Heart paused only briefly at Get Lost's question. "No." A simple answer to a simple question, such a lovely thing sometimes.

CopyCat chews slowly. She had promised Kid yesterday to try to act more princess-like. Trying to eat smores in a princess-like fashion was tricky.

Shatara stealthily nabs a smore before resuming hiding in embarrasement.

Kid doesn't notice Shatara grabbing a S'more. She's a busy walking up to Noble. She wasn't about to be the one to let all those bad memories out. At least, not right now. "You ready t' do this?"

Get Lost nods and follows the alicorn.

Noble Heart sighs quietly. "We are as prepared as We are likely to get."

Get Lost "Want me to try and trace some recursive logic in the computer? Probably I could send her into some sort of logical loop if things go south...." Get Lost then adds "I'm not completely sure that it will work, though"

Kid doesn't turn around. She's looking ahead at the door leading down right now. She doesn't look like she's budging. Her whole body looks rigid, like a spring pressed down and ready to explode out upon release of pressure.

Bookwright shakes his head. "Let's try talking to her first. And we still need to talk to the zebras, and get their assent."

Get Lost nods, the mad scientist in her waking up. "Sounds fair... also, I'd like to have that soundwave thing before we try to get out of here anyway.... maybe it can transform!"

She barely noticed the looks such statements got her anymore. There was a part of her that wanted to throw away all ethical and sane boundries and just create! Modify! Improve! Call it insanity, or Solaris genes, or a little pony in her head with a lab coat and a perchance for Mwah-ha-ha’s. But whatever it was, sometimes it was hard to fight.

"We're gonna have to,” Kid replied. “Mare-Do-Well can't leave without it." Get Lost, at least, knew she wasn’t crazy. Get Lost could see the ghost too, the transparent purple-and-black costumed pony with the giant, ghostly hat. Only Kid had been able to hear her, but at least somepony else had seen her. Right?

Noble Heart nods her head. "We are not certain -We- can leave without it. At least not safely."

Get Lost "mare do who?"

CopyCat finishes up her smore. "I'm ready. We must hope that Amore is willing to put the lives of those under her care above the mission she has been given."

Sweet-E speaks up. "All those ponies are going to wake up to find their homes gone, their kingdom in shambles, with little food and supplies to go around. They'll need their princess to guide them. Or, at least, someone whom they will look up to and who cares for them and loves them."

CopyCat suddenly gets an idea. "Oh, before we talk to Doctor Amore we need to do something. It's very important." She holds her front hooves out wide. "Group hug everypony!"

Bookwright hugs CopyCat. Yes. Soft. Goooood.

Kid blinks. "Uh." Well... Okay, fine. She just kind of awkwardly shuffled up and just pressed herself against the Luna-like, not even really feeling up to a full hug. But the not-hug helped.

Pink-E cheers! Yay hugs! Sweet-E and Pink-E hover a bit back, notibly unable to hug.

Shatara meeps and peeks over a corner

Get Lost joins the group hug. you can never have enough of hugs

Kid nuzzles a little. "Shatara, you too."

CopyCat grins. "Come on Shatara and Noble Heart. Don't be shy!" She wing-beckons the bots over. "You two as well. The fate of those ponies below depends on us friends. Together, we'll do our best!"

Shatara manages to slink out of the corner and join the others.

CopyCat waits until her friends are together, then her horn begins to glow. Tingly warmth envelopes her friends from head to hooves (or talons), fading gradually as her spells come to an end. "Together I know we can do it!"

Kid feels... Pretty good, actually. Like a pressure had been taken off her back. "... Well. We just gotta make it happen. And I guess it shouldn't be that hard t' convince a princess t' do the right thing." She seemed to believe that. "Let's get to it, then." She attempted to open the door and, upon knowing that ponies had her back, descend.

Shatara feels faster, sexier, and somehow less antisocial. Neat.

Bookwright is becoming handsomeglasses! "Right. So, do we want to talk to the zebras first or Doctor Amore first?"

Get Lost feels less clumsy, and also absolutely fabulous! Maybe this time she'll find a coltfriend! "Probably, doctor amore will be the hardest to convince, being... you know, programmed for the job she's doing... I'd see if we can reason with her first... giving false hope to the zebras seems cruel"

Noble Heart sowly descends into the castle. Noble Heart was, evidently, not in a hugging mood. It would seem whatever was going on was stressing her out quite a bit.

CopyCat follows closely behind Kid. "I agree with Get, we should talk with Amore first."

Shatara shrugs. "We're here already anyway, might as well have a go..."

Bookwright "Alright, time to speak to Doctor Love..."

CopyCat nods. "Pretend princess to pretend princess."

Kid looks back. Alright. Everypony's ready to talk to the princess. She descended.

Noble Heart breathes deeply and sighs. "Yes. Let Us negotiate."

Get Lost adds, "Well, maybe we shouldn't put the hoof on her real nature while we talk with her... it could lead to some sort of major breakdown"

Noble Heart nods her head. "We would suggest avoiding the topic. She is not likely to react well. Much as Sweet-E did not react well to Our attempts to tell her of what had happened."

It does not take long to reach the throne room of the Crystal Tower. As always, the throne room is in the same pale pinks and light blues as the rest of the castle, with a rotting puce carpet leading to a throne of dark purple crystals. The early morning sun sends its rays through the windows, banishing most of the interior gloom.

Kid enters first, calling out: "Doctor Amore! We're here!" Her voice was raspy and lower pitched, the same one would have near the end of a journey.

CopyCat stretches her wings a little in the warm sunlight and listens attentively for Amore's answer.

As the ponies and griffin enter, a light begins to glow overhead, emanating crystal chandelier of peculiar arcanotech design. A spotlight forms, aimed at the center of the floor, and a illusion of small, pink alicorn -- Princess Cadance -- appears in the light, standing on the rotted carpet, looking frazzled and weary.

Noble Heart stood tall, or at least stoic, or possibly just waking-up-not-yet-relaxed as she entered the room, looking for the good doctor. "We have returned."

The pink alicorn smiles, spreading her wings. "Do you bear good news, my little ponies? Have you retrieved the Heart?" There is a clear sparkle of hope in her eyes.

Bookwright "So, before we give you the Heart... What will happen to the zebras when you cast the spell?"

Kid frowns. Here comes the hard part. "We ain't talkin' 'bout that yet."

Get Lost simply sits there and listens. Kid and Get Lost spot the ghostly Mysterious Mare-Do-Well fly in through another wall.

Get Lost smiles at the unfortunate ghost for a moment, a bit confused

The holographic Cadance blinks. Then, to clarify, asks, "Those in the zebra lands? Or do you mean those here in the Love Camp?"

Kid blinks and guffaws a little. "Uh. Hi there, friend." She said to the ghost. Then she realized she was looking crazy. "Both."

Bookwright casts an involuntary glance southwest, towards the “Social Re-Adjustment Camp”, now a refuge for the descendants of zebra prisoners of war. He remembers the first zebras they made contact with when they first made it into that tattered mass of ancient military tents surrounded by walls, turrets and heavy military robots…

"Oh my goodness, do my eyes deceive me? Are those survivors?" Bookwright puts down his bags and weapon, and walks carefully forward. Addressing the zebras, "Hello? Can you understand me?" Noble Heart descended quickly, letting her shield dissipate. "We are surprised to see that any here remain. Though it is not so unbelievable, We suppose. This place was home to Zebras being 'redeemed'." She snorted at that word. "Undoubtedly they had children when the war ended." She moved near Bookwright to keep him safe. CopyCat waves at the locals, still with a dumb smile on her face. She immediately invokes her telepathy, attempting to contact every zebra she can see. What was it they used to say about curiosity and cats again? CopyCat can read on their expressions a mix of fear and wonder from the zebras, along with a healthy does of guarded defensiveness. But in her mind, she hears nothing. She doesn't remember meeting any zebra before... maybe they just think really quietly? A few more disheveled zebra poke their heads out. You can hear a burble of talk between them after you call out greetings. All in the fluent, alien zebra language. Bookwright 's gentle smile falters a bit. "O-kay, I guess not. CopyCat, can you impress on them that I mean no harm?" Get Lost smiles. It's plenty of ponies that look friendly, for once! The mare looks in her bags in search for something while keeping an eye on the various new potential friends. Bookwright admits, "I really don't know how I can approach them and use my telepathy spell in a nonthreatening fashion. Suggestions?" Kid smiles and looks at Copycat. "So? What're they thinkin'?" Noble Heart waves a forehoof at the striped creatures. “Zebras,” she explains for the companions unfamiliar with them. “Though We admit that they are rare in Equestria, there are many who live upon the New Canterlot Republic's soil." She frowned and furrowed her brow. "We would be surprised if a telepathy spell would work. But We are not certain." She tilted her head slightly to one side. "We may need to find someone who speaks Zebra to help." CopyCat tilts her head. Zebras were pony shaped... yet she couldn't hear them. "I... I don't know. They look frightened but I can't sense anything from them." One of the zebras waves tentatively back at Noble Heart. Others crouch, as if prepared to run or fight. Bookwright "...damn. Okay, um..." He waves cheerfully at the zebra who waved to Noble Heart. Kid 's smile fades. She folds her legs. "Right then. Hard way." She approached the zebras, and picked up some rock on the ground with her mouth, and started doodling where one could possibly doodle in the ground. One was a picture of two crude ponies, one with stripes, one without. The one without had a speech bubble coming from it's mouth of a square, the other a circle. Get Lost takes what's left from her personal sparkle cola reserve... a whole 3 bottles and offers one to the zebra that waved to her "here, have one, let's make friends!" Noble Heart frowns and sighs quietly, slowly approaching the zebra who was waving back, doing her best to look... Well, okay, she was trying to look authoritative and imposing, but not -scary-. "Does anyzebra here speak Equestrian?" She raised her voice to ask the question. It was likely a 'no', but someone here might still remember it. Maybe. CopyCat nods at Get Lost. "That's the ticket! Friends is goods." Kid then drew a secondary picture in the ground where both of the crude ponies had their eyes closed and had a couple of waves coming off of their heads. They both had squares over their heads. Bookwright steps forwards and indicates the pony pictogram in the picture Kid just drew, then indicates himself. One of the zebras moves forward to peer at Kid's drawings while another keeps protectively close by. CopyCat lays her quilt on the ground next Get Lost and takes out a selection of the Fresh Fruit she'd brought with her. zebra who waved to Noble Heart blinks in surprise and moves cautiously forward. One of the nearby zebras puts up a hoof, speaking in the zebra language. But the zebra nudges past and approaches Noble Heart Kid doesn't back away, but doesn't make any move. She gives the zebra a non-toothy smile. Don't be a ghost don't be a ghost don't be a ghost. Noble Heart smiled as the zebra approached, offering a forehoof as she watched the Zebra's reaction. The truth was she wasn't expecting any kind of real reaction. But finding someone here who could speak Equestrian would expedite things dramatically. The zebra stops in front of Noble Heart, staring at the hoof. And then at the offered Sparkle~Cola. She hesitates. The zebra looking at Kid's drawing nods, then turns slightly to address the others (again in zebra) while not losing sight of Kid. Get Lost open another sparkle cola and drinks from it, then offers the new one again to the zebra The zebra watches. Then quickly snatches the gift and scurries back to the others. CopyCat had mostly lost interest in the zebra, since she couldn't read their minds. Still, her friends thought it was important so she should probably try to help. Noble Heart frowns slightly then sighs, closing her eyes quietly. "Well, that does not seem to have had the result We wished for. But at least they may trust us a little more." She lowers her hoof with a frown. Get Lost is taking note of the zebra’s wounds. Old ones, mostly, but not well healed. She mutters "these zebras got a bad beating from those Solaris power hooves...." She suddenly remembers having the Solaris family mark on her butt and steps back a little "ah... better if they dont' notice me" One of the other zebras watches her kin take the Sparkle~Cola, then looks towards Get Lost and Noble Heart hopefully. Kid gives the zebra a sweet smile, maybe with a little twinge of fear. "... Uh. Ya'll look real skinny. That ain't right. Where do ya'll get food?" She knew that it wasn't going to get answered. She thought twice and drew a picture of a striped pony with her mouth open and a question mark on what seemed to be a dinner plate. Another steps forward towards Kid, picking up a broken bit of crystal and drawing a heart shape on the ground above the striped pony. Bookwright points at the telepathy pictogram, and then at himself several more times. CopyCat taps Get Lost. "Do you think they're hungry, Get? I have some fruit here." Noble Heart frowns a little bit, digging through her bags with her magic a few moments, she contemplates, then looks to Kid. "Do you have any spare water bottles? The only drink We still have is the rainbow sparkle cola. We do not believe the zebras would be well served by drinking it, however happy it makes Our kind." Get Lost "I bet they are, and I'm not letting these poor guys starve." the mare starts rummaging in her bags. She finds five rations of pre war food and four small packets of snacks, all of which she starts distributing among the zebras CopyCat mimics Get Lost and does the same with some servings of fresh food. The zebra who drew the heart puts the broken crystal down and looks to Kid hopefully. Kid smiles brightly. Aww, that's cute. You know, for some poor starving folks. She drew a picture of a heart herself over the wavy pony, then drew a picture of two ponies, one with a stripey face, one a unicorn. The unicorn was placing his horn on the zebra's head, with a couple of arrows going between them. She looks at the zebra and then Bookwright hopefully. Noble Heart tilts her head to one side and looks over at Kid's pictograms. At least someone in the group was making headway. "We hope that that symbol means what you believe it does..." Kid blinks. "What else would it mean?" Bookwright "That they want to tear out our hearts and sacrifice them to some savage god?" Kid , to sweeten the pot, got a package of dried oats out from her saddlebag and offered it to the zebra for his bravery. "Pff. Look'at'em. They don't look like they could pick up a stick, much less a knife." Noble Heart frowns and shakes her head. "There was once a crystal heart here, which fed off love and admiration to give more love and admiration back. We can only speculate what effect that may have had on these zebras' beliefs." She sighed quietly and shuffled a forehoof. "We do not know for certain. It is merely Our worries." The zebra blinks, looking at the picture, and then back at Kid. Slowly, she says a single pony word. "Love?" Kid blinks. "Wut." Noble Heart snorts with a laugh. "Like that." Shatara quietly observes the interaction Kid 's smile became very strained. "Okay, okay. Uh, Bookie? Now. Now, come here now and do th' head woojoo thingy. Now. Please. Now." Bookwright steps forward slowly, and gingerly touches his horn to the zebra's head, casting the spell as soon as he can. The spell works. And the first thing Bookwright senses from the zebra is bewildered surprise... she didn't expect love to feel like this. Bookwright <Sorry, this isn't love. That's between you and Kid there. This is communication. Telepathy.> Kid starts to sweat a little. "Tell her I ain't no marefriend, Bookie! Please?" The zebra is confused, and the source of confusion quickly bubbles to the surface of her thoughts. Love is being touched in the head by a unicorn. This has to be love. What else could it be? CopyCat immediately blushes at the suggestion, until she realises that Bookwright wasn't addressing her. Bookwright thinks to the zebra, <I am sorry, but this isn't love, that was a miscommunication. This spell will only last as long as we stay in contact. So before we end the spell, I want you to know that we mean no harm. Please tell your friends that. I don't have the skill to lie to you telepathically, I hope you can feel the honesty in my heart. In a moment I can cast a spell that will last past the parting. Please tell them we mean no harm, and come back when you are done so I can set up a better spell.> Noble Heart laughs a little bit and steps forwards, wrapping a wing around Kid. "We are certainy they will forgive you." She frowns then and furrows her brow. "I guess that they must have been impacted by the presence of Princess Cadance." She contemplates that. "Love being a thing given by a unicorn's magic, between two individuals." She shakes her head. "We do not like it." Bookwright adds with a thought, <And tell them that we have food for them, if they would like some.> The unicorn then steps back, breaking the contact gently. He informs his friends, "Well, the zebra there has confused my magic with... something else. At a guess, the Crystal Heart's magic. So they're dependent on it too, somehow." It doesn't take long for a fair portion of the zebras to break through their nervousness and start crowding CopyCat and Get Lost, the bringers of food. Bookwright adds, "Also, I told them that we brought food. So we're about to be really popular." Get Lost mutters to copycat "look at their wounds.... it looks like they get often attacked by those crazed crystal ponies that attacked even us...." One zebra snatches an offered pre-war can of corn and runs away back into one of the tattered tents. A moment later, three more zebras emerge from the tent, two of them very young colts. Noble Heart contemplates that. "Did the records we saw not indicate that Princess Cadance had some form of magic to make ponies love one another?" She taps her chin. "You recall, she mentioned she could not use her magic on Professor Paladin as his heart was closed to love. It is possible that this place used her magic in an effort to retrain these Zebras for Equestrian ideals... A few hundred years and many generations of legends, and such stories might have become an equivalence in their minds." She sighs quietly. "We are not certain. We are more concerned by their wounds. Get Lost said they were from Solaris Inc powerhooves."

They only realized how right they were, Bookwright recalls with a frown, when they found the “re-adjustment” center with it’s huge image of Princess Cadance touching her horn to a zebra’s head, surrounded by a big heart and the proclamation that they were helping the zebras find LOVE once again.

Cadance looks at Kid with confusion. Then answers as best she can. "Those who are here? Nothing should happen to them. The spell is targeted to spread across the zebra lands, a continent away. The zebras there will find themselves full of love and friendship, especially for ponies, and will lay down their weapons of war.

Noble Heart frowns and contemplates that. "And if they would not wish to do so?"

Cadance smiles. "Love changes hearts. They would wish to do so."

Bookwright "But it's no longer necessary. The war is over. Has been over, for more than two centuries. You don't need to spread love in the zebra lands. You just need to restore the crystal ponies."

CopyCat looks down. "We'd like to know if there was a way to release the crystal ponies without casting the spell."

Noble Heart scowls slightly. "We have spent two centuries beneath the surface of a mind greater than Ourselves. A slave to its whims, unable to feel or think or do as We please. We will not see another, much less a nation of others, stripped of their freedom of choice. Whether We agree with that choice or not."

Kid smacks her lips. Yup. This is what we were afraid of. And this is what she's been trying to dream up an argument for. "... Did ya'll notice that Professor Paladin stopped yellin' at y'? He's still alive and stuff. An' we haven't made him change his mind or anything."

CopyCat picks up on scattered thoughts and half remembered tales, brought into recollection by the words of Amore. "To force them to love... this reminds me of a story. There was once a princess who nearly lost her prince to a changeling. The changeling took on the princess's form and cast a spell on the prince to force him love her instead. Doctor Amore... this spell you are casting... are you sure it is the right thing?"

The holographic Princess Cadance looks startled. She steps back, frowning at this story. Looking down, she admits, "We need to stop the fighting. There can't be anything wrong with love. It's... love."

Mysterious Mare-Do-Well clears her ghostly throat, although only Kid can hear her. "Speaking of fighting..."

Kid looks at Kid. "What's up, Mare-Do-Well?"

Noble Heart sighs quietly and shakes her head. "Love is important, on that We agree. But love must be something which exists already, not forced upon another. The war is long over, both sides lost. Now is not the time to make the descendants of those who were there feel what they do not wish to. If hate they have for us, then it is only because we have ended them as much as they have ended us."

Mare-Do-Well looks back over her shoulder briefly. "I came to warn everyone that something's got the Heartless real riled up."

Bookwright cocks his head at Kid. Why is she talking to the air again?

Cadance frowns. "So... you're not going to give me the Heart?"

The Mysterious Mare-Do-Well blinks. Her jaw drops. Then she zips right up to Kid. "You guys have the Crystal Heart?"

Noble Heart sighs quietly. "It is not that We do not wish to give it to you. It is that We do not wish you to use it in that way. What We want is for the crystal ponies to be free of their trappings. But the spell should not be cast."

Princess Cadance frowns. "The spell is already in casting... that cannot be undone." She thinks, "At most, I could change the target and scale, but once the Crystal Heart is in place, the spell will go off."

In the depths of the Stable-Tec facility, the cloned brain imprinted with the mind of Sweetie Belle processes all that she is hearing through the spritebot that the Solaris pony created for her. Silent until now, the Sweet-E asks, "But you can aim it someplace else, right? So it doesn't hit all those zebra?"

Princess Cadance retorts, "Where would you suggest I send it?" Then seeming to grasp an epiphany, "I could focus it on just a few blocks. My own magic may not be able to affect Professor Paladin anymore, but with the full power of a megaspell, surely I can make him love me again!"

Noble Heart frowns. "Do you believe he ever stopped loving you? It is not that he did not care about you. It is that he felt what you were doing was wrong for those it would affect." She contemplates. "But... Perhaps there is another place it could be aimed. The Heartless have given so much they have no more love to give. Perhaps a spell of such magnitude could he used to help heal them?"

CopyCat tilts her head. "Then I have a thought, Amore. Many of the crystal ponies below have lost their way. The so called heartless. They gave their love to this spell for so many years... perhaps it could give their love back."

Kid blinks. And then she got this look of dread on her face. "... Guys, Mare-Do-Well's tellin' us that somethin's got th' heartless all rustled up." She looked at the others and nodded her head pointed out of the room. "Copycat, Noble, I think ya'll got this, and ya'll know how t' make two and two make four. I think the rest of us are best left makin' sure yer' alright." She looks at the pink alicorn. "And... He already fuckin' loves you. All we had t' say t' get the Crystal Heart was t' bring up how long it's been since he's had dinner with you."

Shatara blinks at Kid. "Define 'rustled up'..."

Kid just looks at Mare-Do-Well.

Bookwright agrees, "Copycat, that very likely would work. I think." Again, he thinks back, this time to when they cornered a Heartless in a basement. The raider-like Crystal Pony called “Boomer” had been part of a group who attacked the zebras, and had put up a savage battle before being subdued, unleashing Solaris-created monsters and using explosives made from Sparkle~Cola Rainbow. Once he was immobilized, Bookwright had attempted to use memory magic to learn what made these ponies so horrible and violent.

Bookwright breathes out. Touches his horn to Boomer's head. Gradually, the room grows a little brighter. Golden brown, like fresh bread. "And now," he breathes, "I begin." Noble Heart keeps her wing wrapped around CopyCat, her other wing wrapping around Shatara as she watches the sky quietly. Shatara chirps a little in surprise as the wing drapes over, but he leans into it nonetheless. Get Lost simply sits there waiting for Bookie to do his mojo. She would cheer the unicorn but it could be more a bother than a help. (But really, who would turn down some good cheering? "One, two, three, four! C'mon Bookie find out more! Five, six, seven, eight! Ease that poor soul from his weight!") Bookwright mutters softly, almost imperceptibly, "Let us begin with... your name." While he is called Boomer now, Bookwright is able to swiftly pull from the Heartless' mind that once... long ago... he was named Sparkle Shine. Bookwright breathes slowly. "Alright... Sparkle Shine. That's a nice name. A lovely name. Whyever would you want to forget it? No matter. Now... What is this spell that Princess Cadance was supposed to cast do, exactly?" CopyCat shakes her head sadly as she senses Get's cheer. "I don't think anything Bookie finds will ease that lost pony." Noble Heart frowns, "No. Perhaps not. But it may help Us save many more ponies from a similar fate." She sighs quietly. Bookwright gets flashes of images, mainly focused around Princess Cadance giving a speech to a throng of crystal ponies gathered about her tower. From the fragments, Bookwright can draw a simple claim: Stop the war. Save the world. Bookwright smiles. "A single spell to stop the war? That's what it was supposed to do? Clearly it didn't work, but still, a nice sentiment." He inhales and exhales slowly. Then, softly, "Okay. Now for the fun one. Why don't you want to remember? The memory of pain..." Get Lost frowns "A single spell to stop the war... like.... some mass megaspell using the power of all the crystal ponies? Well, that could have drained all of them of their ponyness, I guess...." The memories flash before Bookwright -- a whole population poised and ready, held in a magical status as they poured all their love, all their hope and joy and friendship, every ounce of it, towards the crystal heart. Waiting for the spell to trigger. Waiting... Days became months, became years, became decades. A whole population frozen in the act of caring, of giving love. Until, after a century had past, some had nothing left to give. All the good in them drained away in the monumental, everlasting effort. They break free, wake up, but without anything good in their hearts. Wretched ponies. The Heartless. And the memory of what they once were is agony. Bookwright nods slowly. "I understand. It hurts because you gave your love for so long. Selflessly giving your love for decades, and nothing happening at all. That is why the memory hurts. Because you loved for so long, and received no reciprocation... Hmm... Do you remember, is there some way to restore the love in your hearts?" Boomer... Sparkle Shine... doesn't know. And is no longer capable of wanted to be restored. CopyCat cries quietly, unable to bear the feelings Bookwright had uncovered, yet unable to stop herself from reaching out to share them. Noble Heart gently tries to comfort CopyCat, her wing drawing closer around the other alicorn. Shatara sees CopyCat's distress, leaning up to her other side. Get Lost taps her chin thinking. "Well ,technically he lost some sort of spark in his spirit... we could try to light that spark again... the question is: how?" After a moment of pondering, "maybe a song...." Bookwright "...He doesn't know. And he no longer cares. Hmm... I have one last question then. Is there one you love still among the silent throng?" Boomer is incapable of love, so no. Instead, Bookwright is treated to the vision of Boomer, formerly Sparkle Shine, infiltrating the throng of frozen crystal ponies, a large hunk of pipe in his mouth. There are other Heartless doing the same... hunting. And he finds who he is hunting for. Sparkle Shine's wife and their small colt. He raises the pipe and brings it down on her. Over and over. Until the object of his past love, and the source of his pain, is nothing but chunks of crystal and dust. He turns to the colt… ...and is driven back by blasts of lightning from the brain bots. He turns and flees, as do the other Heartless. Those, at least, who do not fall to the robotic onslaught. Across the skies, the voice of Doctor Amore booms, "PAY NO ATTENTION TO THE PONYCIDAL ROBOTS! THEY ARE HERE FOR YOUR PROTECTION!" Bookwright grimaces. "I sincerely wish I hadn't turned up that memory. That was horrifying." Bookwright concentrates on the image of the colt, taking in every detail. Making sure he can find him. "...Okay, I'm going to end this session now…" he whispers, leaving Boomer's mind with a clear image of where the colt should be, and a fair certainty that Boomer has yet to go back and finish the job. Bookwright finally opens his eyes again. Yawns. "Phew. I feel wrung out. Sparkle Shine here is a real piece of work." CopyCat struggles to speak, "They tried to save everypony. To stop the hatred of war with the strength of their love but... those feelings were washed aside like a drop of water in the sea. And they stayed. Giving everything they had until some had nothing left." Shatara chirps sadly as he leans into CopyCat. Noble Heart frowns, furrowing her brow. "Then perhaps We can help them by finding the Crystal Heart and reversing that spell..." She didn't seem very certain of that, though. Get Lost contemplates,"or maybe a love transfusion. Is a love transfusion contraption even possible to build?" Get Lost shrugs "ohwell, here goes nothing." She hugs the heartless and gives him a kiss on the forehead. "There, there... it's all right... sleep a little more and dream of pretty ponies..." "I need some fresh air." Bookwright says as he labors towards the cellar stairwell, "...I... The darkness in Sparkle Shine's head is pretty black. They say that when you look into the void, the void looks into you... Sparkle Shine's heart is a void. He literally has no love remaining, and the capacity to love has left him entirely. He's afflicted with a terrible disease that fills him with anger and hatred and pain and it's not his fault." Bookwright looks up at Noble Heart with tears in his eyes. "I found a memory... After he became Heartless, he sought out his wife and child... He smashed her to pieces, but the son remains." He hangs his head and mutters, "I really wish I hadn't tried to find that memory..." Looking back up, "Come on. Let's relieve him of his bombs and weapons so he can't hurt anypony else easily, let's find that Crystal Heart, and get 'Doctor Amore' to fix this mess!"

Princess Cadance gasps, her eyes widening. "I... I hadn't even thought of that! Yes... yes, that should work! We could use the spell to heal the Heartless!"

The Mysterious Mare-Do-Well prances in place. "Well, you better hope it does. Cuz when you light things up with the heart, the Heartless are going to descend on this place like ants on honey." For emphasis, she adds, "All of them."

Princess Cadance stares at Kid. "...dinner?..."

Kid nods. "After that... I dunno. It was a lot easier t' talk to him." She looks at the other. "All of them are heading to this point." She gulps, and gives the herd a grave grin. "At least if it don't work, we ain't gon' miss."

Noble Heart sighs quietly. "Yes. We asked him when the last time he attempted to make up to you was. When he actually talked to you, went to dinner together, spent quality time with you." She shakes her head. "But this sounds like the best plan We have heard."

Pink-E cheers. "LET'S DO EET!"

Cadance stammers, blushes, then shakes her head as if to clear it. "I'll refocus the spell. It will take just a few minutes. Then... on my signal... place the Crystal Heart on its pedestal in the center below the castle." With that, the hologramic pink alicorn flickers and disappears.

CopyCat grins. "You heard the mare. Let's get down there!"

The ghostly Mysterious Mare-Do-Well grimaces. "A few minutes. Yeah, that's not going to be a problem." She looks towards the windows. "The Crystal Heart will draw the attention of the Heartless scattered throughout the empire, but some of those from out around Solaris are already on the warpath."

Somepony better get up on the battlements and prepare to stop any who try to crash the party early!"

Kid draws her shotgun, and placed her .44 magnum in an easy-to-get-to area on her body for CopyCat's sake. When she heard where it's supposed to go, she didn't like it. At all. "You mean in that wide open area where everypony can fuckin' see us? That pedestal in the middle of th' fuckin' castle?" Shit. This is bad. "Cadance, Mare-Do-Well, where are th' battlements?"

Bookwright is puzzled. "What are you on about, Kid?"

CopyCat tilts her head. "Battlements? But we don't want to hurt them if there's this chance to save them."

Mare-Do-Well answers, as Cadance is already gone. "About midway up. Some of them are pretty broken up, but they should give you height and cover. I can fly around as a spotter, but you're gonna need several ponies with good range to cover all sides."

Noble Heart nods her head. "We shall come to help as much as We can. We can teleport Ourself down to the base of the tower when the time is right."

Kid stares at Bookwright. "Lemme lay this out fer you. There are a /bunch/ of fuckin' Heartless headin' here. When we start th' count, they're comin' here, and they ain't gon' be happy. Now, I'm for savin' all of them that's possible, but killin' none ain't gonna happen 'cause we can't talk them outta this odds are." She gulps. "There's some battlements about midway up the castle we can use t' defend. We're gonna need all th' folks with range on their side t' go up there... And fer th' rest of us, we're gonna just have t' guard th' pedestal."

Bookwright grimaces. "I really don't want to have to kill any of them. We're trying to save them, remember?

Kid frowns and just shakes her head. "You got any better ideas?"

Shatara fidgets. "I guess it might be a good time to see if all this less-lethal stuff we picked up actually works on crystal...?"

Kid nods. "Alright. You do that. But I ain't got that much Beanbag shells left."

Bookwright counts, "I have three stun grenades."

Shatara pulls a quartet of dart rifles out of his pack. "I have these...but only about two darts each..."

Kid nods. "Gimme one." She outstretches her hoof towards Bookie.

Bookwright waves Kid away. "I know how to use these. You've got your beanbag cartridges, use those."

CopyCat nods at Shatara and pulls out her own dart rifle. "Good idea Shatara. Even if we only have a few darts we can try to save as many as possible."

Shatara finds a sixpack of stun grenades when digging through in vain hope of finding more darts. "Oh!" He shows them to Bookwright and Kid.

Noble Heart frowns. "We suppose then that We shall head to the base. We do not wish to tire Ourselves out too much. And We do still have magic which may disable without slaying."

Bookwright looks around. "I think... I think we should all be down by the Crystal Heart. We don't have enough stun supplies to split them up if we don't want to kill any of the heartless."

Kid nods, and takes three. "Thank y' kindly, Shatara." She heads on down, loading in her bean bag shells, pinning the stun grenades on her armor. Getting ready for hopefully the least lethal battle in years. But... Before then, she had to say something to Mare-Do-Well. "Mare-Do-Well. Can I talk to you? It's important."

Bookwright takes the other three. "Good. Okay. I'm gonna go downstairs with Noble Heart. Shatara, you might have a better vantage point up on the battlements to use a dart rifle. I leave that up to you."

Shatara nods. He looks over his four rifles, wishing he had time to dismantle a few and fix one up. Instead, he tries to pick the best one, and loads up it's magazine.

Mare-Do-Well notes softly, "I'm... gonna need you up on the battlements Kid. Nopony else here can hear me." She clearly doesn’t like it, but she can't be much of a spotter if she's mute.

Kid breathes in deep, eyes still focused on moving forward towards... Now the battlements. "I need you to know somethin' before I do this in... Case things go wrong." Her heart was heavy. "I used you. When I met you first, I started talkin' about Dashites and Enclavers t' see where your heart is, maybe get some hint who you are. But that was wrong o' me to do." She frowned. "I should've never manipulated you like that. I'm sorry. And if somehow I... Fail here. I w-wanted you to know that before it's too late." She put up a stoic front. She was scared as hell.

Shatara loads his rifle so the five para darts feed first, followed by two tranq darts. He nudges at CopyCat a bit, holding the remaining two darts out in his talon for her. Shatara repacks his things and gulps. Dartgun in hand, rifle across back...

CopyCat slides back the bolt and checks her rifle over. She notices Shatara's nudge, and smiles, taking the extra darts. "Thanks Shatara. I'll put these to good use."

Bookwright "All right then... let's go if we're going..." He looks to Noble Heart. "You're the one with the Crystal Heart. Lead on."

CopyCat follows the others, dart rifle at the ready.

Mare-Do-Well floats next to Kid in silence for a bit. Finally, she says, "Hey, no problem. You're fighting to get me out of this prison, right? And to save all these ponies? So... totally water under the bridge."

Kid sighs. "I... Guess. Don't make me feel better." She feels sick to her stomach as she hits the battlements. "Thanks. And... I guess if it ends badly, y'no. Maybe I'll end up with you in here."

Mare-Do-Well’s masked eyes go wide and she waves her hooves. "No, no. Don't jinx it!"