Chapter 19: When Life Gives You Lemons…

To say that the atmosphere around the Crystal Castle was ‘tense’ would woefully undersell the feeling that permeated through every pony and even the very air. The howling wind and pelting sleet had stopped, leaving the Crystal Empire in a state of frozen silence. However, the peace that one would expect to come with such a sudden change was nowhere to be found.

While it was unarguably quiet, a mood of barely restrained panic was the order of the moment as crystal and opaque ponies huddled together for warmth, in spite of shivers that just wouldn’t go away, and to comfort one another. Admittedly, the jagged horizontally aligned icicles that covered every crystal house and even the castle making the empire resemble some sort of frozen hellscape didn’t help, but that was hardly the main concern.

The weather itself had gone, or rather ‘changed’ so that particular danger was no longer approaching from all sides and closing in on the ponies, but now it was ‘up’. Directly above the ponies was a mountainous chunk of clear ice, much larger than the castle they had sought shelter near, and definitely large enough that it would effortlessly destroy a sizable chunk of the empire should it fall.

Likely, The only thing that kept the group from breaking into a blind panic was their leaders and the Element Bearers present. Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy were actively engaged in making sure this dismal situation didn’t degrade further into an unsalvageable problem. All three trotted about the large group, making sure that injuries from the storm were treated and ponies remained calm despite the fact that death itself seemed to be looming above. Conversely, the ponies’ Princesses and Prince stood like beacons that shouldered the heavy weight of the glacier above with their magic.

Twilight Sparkle stood in the center of the group, her horn glowing the brightest and her giant ‘energy pedestal’ the largest. Surrounding her were Princesses Luna and Celestia and her older brother. All three were also lending their energy to keeping the ice above in place. Though his white coat still had blotches of brownish-red, Shining Armor’s wounds had seemingly been tended to by his wife.

Speaking of whom, Cadance sat near the group on her haunches with her eyes closed and magic not going up, but out, the baby blue energy seemingly radiating off her and empowering the magic users around her. Her energy came off in big, gentle waves that everypony could feel, carrying with it a rejuvenating feeling which was of slight comforting against a nearly unshakable feeling of impending doom. Cadance herself looked almost peaceful sitting there except for the fact that her body was trembling from the constant strain.

Next to Cadance sat Pinkie Pie who, contrary to her usual exuberant energy, simply cradled Cadance and Shining Armor’s baby in her arms and gently rocked the foal back and forth without a word. Perhaps it was the feelings coming from her mother, or the tense atmosphere, but the baby remained silent. She simply looked around with wide eyes at everypony around her.

“Don’t worry, little mini-Shining Cadance,” Pinkie said softly to the baby in her arms. “Your parents and auntie Twilight and your extended family full of powerful ponies with strange and wonderful powers will fix this!” For a moment, Pinkie’s smile cracked. “Yep… Everything is going to be just fine,” she said as she looked out at the crowd of scared ponies with a look that suggested that maybe Pinkie was trying to reassure herself as much as anypony else.

Fluttershy broke away from the crowd, glancing at Pinkie Pie as she made her way to Applejack who had seemingly taken a break to stare off in the direction Rainbow Dash had flown off to.“Erm… Everything will be fine, right?”

Applejack’s ears perked up and then she turned and she seemingly took a quick look around her to make sure no other ponies were in earshot. “Ah don’t know, sugar cube… I jus’ don’t know…” She looked up. “I wish I could say I was sure everything would work out this time but… Well… I reckon that wouldn’t be very honest of me…”

Fluttershy let out a scared whimper.

“Oh, pish posh!” Rarity cried as she trotted up to join the other two mares. “We’ve faced a cavalcade of villains already and this is hardly the direst situation we’ve been in.”

Applejack sucked in a large breath and let it out. “Maybe so… But Ah don’t know if any of our ‘friendship’ powers are gonna work well against a giant chunk of ice…”

Fluttershy perked up. “Hey! Maybe when Rainbow Dash gets back we can all get together and try Rainbow Power!”

Rarity and Applejack glanced at her.

“Hrrrmmm…” Rarity hummed as she tapped at her chin with a forehoof. “I think we’d have known intuitively to do that if it would work, or perhaps even just grew our extra-long manes and tails on the spot to take care of business, as it were.”

Applejack let out an annoyed grunt. “Ah just wish there was something we could do… Ah mean…” Applejack motioned to the group of alicorns and single unicorn pouring as much magic as they had out to keep the floating iceberg from crushing everypony. “Twilight Shinning and the other Princesses are working to keep everypony safe. But…” Applejack sighed heavily. “Ah just feel so helpless.”

Fluttershy smiled warmly at her friend. “I feel helpless almost all the time!”

Rarity turned towards Fluttershy as Applejack fixed her with a furrowed brow.

“Erm… but that’s probably not all that helpful right now.”

‘BAMF’

The three turned as Sunset Shimmer, Spike, Starlight Glimmer, Sunburst, and Rainbow Dash all appeared in a turquoise flash.

“H-hey everypony,” Twilight grunted out. “G-glad you made it…”

Somehow Celestia’s face turned whiter as she looked at Sunset. “I’m not…” she said as she stared long and hard at her adopted daughter as if it was the last time she may ever look at her again.

Sunset caught the look then stared upwards as tears immediately began to well up behind her eyes.

Spike looked over the large group of ponies, most with rather grim expressions on their faces. Oddly enough, he smiled and held his claws palms up in a slight shrug. “Geez, with this sort of mood you’d think somepony was dying.”

A series of groans erupted from Spike’s friends.

“Whaaaat?” Spike protested with a big grin on his face. He looked up. “I was just trying to break the ice.”

The groans increased in terms of quantity, volume, and length.

Sunset glowered at Spike. “Spike, I swear, if that pun is the last thing I hear from someone else, I’ll personally make sure your afterlife is an unpleasant one.”

“Well, at least Spikey-wikey still has his spirits,” Rarity chirped as she, Applejack, and Fluttershy trotted over.

“Whatcha thinkin’ there, Spike?” Applejack said. She looked up. “Think you can give this mean ol’ block of ice some Equestria Games treatment?”

Many ponies nearby began to murmur excitedly, especially the nearby crystal ponies.

Spike chuckled nervously and scratched the back of his head. “Heh-heeeeh… Sorry, everypony. Even if we got me to the top of the castle or something to make up the distance, I don’t think I could just up and melt that much ice.”

One corner of Sunset’s lips pulled tightly. “And even shrinking the ice block with that much magic fire would probably mess with all the telekinesis going on and it’d just drop on us…”

One could almost hear all the heartbeats immediately pick up and feel the air became thicker with tension.

Starlight tentatively looked over the group of ponies holding the ice mountain aloft. “I’m… sorry everypony… This was my fau—”

Celestia was quick to interrupt. “Oh, my little pony, you have nothing to be sorry for. Your actions most likely saved everypony here.”

Starlight stared at Celestia in surprise. “But… but… My magic made that giant chunk of ice.” Starlight shook her head. “I’m a monster.”

“S-Starlight Glim-Glimmer…” Luna huffed out between breaths. “I-I know you f-feel ter-terrible for wha-what you have done. How-however... I, too have made di-dire mis-mistakes, and I-I can assure—”

“Aunt Luna?” Sunset interrupted. “I’m sure Starlight appreciates the feeling, but I already kinda gave this speech.”

“Oh… ma-marvelous,” Luna said sincerely. “I-I did not believe I h-had the strength t-to get through it all.”

Celestia took a deep breath and let it out. “Do not trouble yourself, Starlight,” Celestia said. “I’ve encountered many obstacles in my long life and found ways to persevere.”

“… Yeah…” Shining Armor strained out. “It’s-it’s not such a big deal…”

Sunset looked up then cocked an eyebrow at Shining Armor. “It is literally a big deal.”

Starlight smiled slightly, her spirits seemingly lifted a bit. “Well… if I could hel—”

“Y-yes, pa-please…” Twilight croaked.

Starlight quickly took a position around Twilight and let loose her own pillar of electric blue magic and for a brief moment, the faces of the other magic users seemed to relax if just slightly.

Rainbow Dash piped up. “Okay, I know I don’t, like, know a lot about magic, but why is the giant ice block of death here instead of where Starlight was?”

Sunburst smiled slightly and adjusted his glasses. “You see, a major artifact like the Crystal Heart puts off a tremendous amount of energy that the surrounding area is accustomed to having. With it gone, there’s now something of a power vacuum which had Starlight subconsciously direct her magic towards the center and also pulled in the storm in the first place.”

“Very informative, Mr. Wizard,” Sunset said glibly.

Starlight shot Sunset a slightly strained grin.

Sunset sighed. “It’s an expre-Oh, never mind.” She looked around at everypony gathered. Without a doubt, Equestria’s most important ponies were all here along with over an empire’s worth of ponies. Many were looking at the princesses and her for an answer, and quite a few seemed to be looking at her specifically with an expression that seemed to ask why she wasn’t using her magic to help keep everypony from being crushed.

Rainbow Dash was quick to ask what everyone seemed to be thinking. “Hey Sunset, why aren’t you helping with the crurshy ice hill of death?”

Sunset furrowed her brow and opened her mouth to speak.

She was quickly interrupted in what would turn out to be an exceedingly rare case of Sunset happy her mother spoke over her. “I believe Sunset has a different role to play here.” Celestia gave her daughter a weak, but confident smile. “Go ahead, my little shimmering sunlight.”

Sunset smiled at her mother briefly then looked over the crowd of ponies. She through her head up high and began to address everyone in a voice of authority, “Alright everypony, I know this looks bleak, but we’ve got an all-star team of Equestria’s brightest, bravest, and buffest.”

Pinkie nodded her head in approval.

Sunset continued, “What we need right now is a plan to get out of this and I’m open to suggestion.” She looked up. “Because right now I have ‘fly up there and take out all my anger and frustration out on that miserable block of ice!’” Looking back down, she added, “While I have a lot of pent up aggression at the moment, I think we need more than me being cheesed off if keeping everypony alive is the goal.”

Applejack looked at Celestia and then Luna, “Pardon a farm mare for asking Princesses how they do their job, but can’t either of you just throw that huge hunk of rock into space? Or at least move it away from the Empire? Ah mean, you kind move the sun and the moon every day.”

Luna answered, “M-my sister and I are both h-highly at-t-tuned to those heavenly bodies.” Her eyes drifted up towards the giant ice block. “I-I’m af-f-f-fraid this is s-s-something quite new to both of us.”

Applejack sighed, “Sorry, had to ask.”

Celestia and Luna gave Applejack the slightest of nods of acknowledgment.

“Heeeey…” Starlight began in a strained voice. “Sunburst, is there a s-spell that could m-maybe make the ice g-go away?”

Sunburst shook his head. “I don’t know of a single spell off-hoof. It’s possible a combination of spells might do it, but with time being as short as it is and everypony occupied…”

“Oh…” Starlight said simply.

Fluttershy spoke up. “Um… What if we just, erm… gently lowered the ice while we all moved out from under it?”

Rarity gave Fluttershy a disbelieving look. “And crush the beautiful castle.”

“A-and library?!” Twilight cried. Above, Twilight’s magic faltered slightly and the other magical ponies let out started gasps as they compensated with their own telekinetic energy to keep the floating glacier in place. The sudden unexpected shift was marked by loud ‘crack’s from up above, followed by massive chunks of ice that fell from the blocks edged. These still huge pieces of ice fell to the empire below, taking out entire crystal houses before exploding into smaller jagged chunks that flew out in all directions.

Sunset shot Twilight a sneer as Twilight regained her focus with a sheepish look on her face.

“Nevermind,” Fluttershy said as she watched the gently drifting fallout from a fallen ice block and the crystal home it had flattened. “That still seems pretty dangerous.”

Sunburst nodded. “Plus if we forfeit the castle and this area, we’ll never get the Crystal Heart back in place. Given enough time, another storm will simply arrive and wipe us out,” Sunburst paused to adjust his glasses, “um, probably before we have a chance of getting help.”

Rainbow Dash raised a forehoof and opened her mouth as if to protest then turned to glance at her slightly frozen wings. She simply let out a defeated sigh and sank to the frozen ground.

Sunset looked around. Her turquoise eyes drifting over her Twilight, her friend who had literally pulled her out of her depths when she was at her lowest, even though she didn’t deserve it. She looked over Spike, always happy to lend an ear and try to make her feel better. She looked over Starlight and Sunburst, ponies she had just recently met who she knew had so much more to offer. Ponies who, in time, she could have blossoming friendships with. She turned to Shining Armor, looking at his face. A face full of determination as he strained with all his might to keep his family and Empire safe. Shining Armor who was clearly fighting with is entire, muscled, tight body. His shapely and chiseled flank, the kind of flank you could bounce a bit off, pulled tight as—

Sunset suddenly became aware that Cadance has opened her eyes just to stare at Sunset. With some slight pinkness to her cheeks and a sheepish smile, Sunset turned and looked over her adopted cousin who was beginning to shake as sweat rolled off of her, her serene expression having cracked as she bit her lip. Cadance’s baby seemed to be cooing in concern, reaching out for her mother as Pinkie gently rocked and shushed the small foal. Sunset looked over Pinkie and those other ponies that were so much like her friends back home. At the group of crystal and other ponies gathered around. At her, kind of, adopted aunt. At her…

…her mother.

Most everypony wore dour expressions and those expressions were all souring by the second. Sunset knew that everypony was going to have to rally if they wanted to survive this. Hmm… sour… now there’s an idea… Sunset cleared her throat loudly. “Do you all know what to do when life give you lemons?” she asked evenly.

“Oh! I know this one!” a voice far too bubbly for what was going on answered.

Sunset turned her head to glower at Pinkie Pie. “No, Pinkie. You don’t ‘make lemona—’”

“You burn life’s house down!” Pinkie interrupted. She was still smiling, but her smile was untamed and wild.

Sunset blinked for a moment as she caught a glint of something in Pinkie’s eyes beyond the mare’s normal cheeriness. The same wildness of her smile was also there, but something else, too. Pinkie’s eyes had the look of a pony who had seen and likely had to deal with just a little too much in her day-to-day life and wasn’t afraid to take everything that was severed to her and dish it back out in spades.

Sunset had no idea how Pinkie knew the right answer, but she understood that same feeling quite well as it was exactly how she felt at the moment. She decided to ask questions later, or maybe never, and just roll with it. “That’s right!” Sunset said as she pointed an enthusiastic forehoof at Pinkie. “Don’t make lemonade. Make life take the lemons back! Get mad!” Sunset looked skyward and throw her hooves up in the air. “I don’t want your damn lemons, what the hell am I supposed to do with these?!” She looked back down and extended a forehoof towards the crowd. “Demand to see life’s manager! Make life rue the day it thought it could give you and your loved ones lemons!” Sunset looked directly up at the massive ice block that was held in place by a number of shimmering pillars of different colors. “Do you know who I am?! I’m the mare who’s going to burn your house down with the lemons! I’m going to pour all my anger, my rage into everything I know and make magic charged science lemons that burn your house down!”

A new feeling went through the crowd with the speed of lightning. Some excited murmurs even began to rumble here and there. The speech at least pushed through the soul-crushing feeling of despair that was weighing most everypony down and many began to look up. Not with hope or optimism, but with a fiery, angry determination.

It no longer looked like a group of ponies trying to come to terms with their fate, but instead an angry herd ready to pick up pitchforks and torches and carry them all to the ice mountains house and set fire to it and everything it loved.

Now if only that was a viable option.

“We need ideas, ponies!” Sunset barked out. “Right now we’re still at ‘I use all the anger, magic, and harsh language at my disposal’ to take this thing out, and as satisfying as it would be to use combustible lemons, we’re going to need ideas that can be executed roughly nowish.”

Sunburst stroked at his goatee with a forehoof. “Assuming that plan, or some variation of it works we’ll need to get the Crystal Heart reassembled almost simultaniously, along with a casting of Somnnambula's Weather Abjuration. Though it won't stop anything too big from falling down on us, it should prevent us all from being buried in a ton of slush and snow that hits all at once…”

Sunset nodded. “Okay… So as soon as I head up, the other alicorns minus Cadence set on fixing the heart.”

“I-I’d like t-to help put back th-the heart,” Starlight strained out. She looked over Twilight, Celestia, and Luna. “I-if that’s alright…”

Much to Starlight’s surprise, she received nothing but smiles in return.

“O-of course, my little p-pony,” Celestia managed to coo out in a gentle, melodic tone despite the tenseness of her body and the stress on her face.

Starlight smiled to herself and let out a huff of tension as she closed her eyes and continued to focus her energy upwards.

“What about—” Shining Armor paused to inhale “—me?” he asked as he looked out with half lidded eyes.

Cadance opened an eye halfway and smiled as best she could at her husband.

Sunset shook her head. “Sorry hero. You’ve got very important ceremony to be in.”

“Oh, right…” Shining Armor’s head began to tremble as sweat poured off of him like a dribbling faucet.

Spike took a trepidations step forward. “Well… I can help Sunset, at least. I mean… I do have some experience in melting huge blocks of ice that can crush ponies…also riding alicorns,” Spike added with a smile.

Twilight grit her teeth. “I-I don’t think it’ll be enough…”

Spike sighed. “Well, spitting fire is almost all I got…”

Sunset’s eye’s widened. “What if I could boost the effectiveness of your fire?”

“Like an amplification spell?” Sunburst suggested excitedly.

“Er… More like I conjure up a high-pressure spray of liquefied hydrogen in front of me and let Spike let loose.”

There was a beat of silence as the dragon and other ponies chewed on the unfamiliar phrase.

Twilight’s left eye twitched slightly. “You know a spell that creates ROCKET FUEL?!” she cried. Above the ponies, there was a rumbling as Twilight’s pillar of telekinetic force wavered slightly. She quickly regained her focus as the lumbering ice beast above cracked and dropped a few massive chunks of itself in response.

Sunset grinned sheepishly in response. “Well… I’ve studied quite a few things that are not of Equestria design and have worked out ways to recreate them magically… Wait… How do you know what rocket fuel is?!”

Twilight still had energy to spare for a dirty look. “I read a lot.”

“Well, duh,” Sunset replied. Pinkie seemed to beam in approval.

“The tech-technology of your world fa-fascinates me,” Twilight continued glibly. “It’s no-no-not like knowing what r-r-rocket f-f-fuel is harmful in its s-s-sel—”

“Girls?!” Celestia grunted. “Please table this discussion for later. Time and energy are running short.”

Sunset looked back up to the task at hoof, in this case, a giant ice mountain in the sky. “Okay, so Spike and I can create a metric flank-ton of very hot fire…” Sunset frowned as she once again visually took in the size of the very real, very solid problem above everypony. “Better… but maybe not better enough…”

Twilight sucked through her teeth as the continual weight of the ice bore down on her and the other alicorns and unicorns. All of them were starting to show clear signs of straining, but Twilight pushed through her weary pain and spoke, “C-Can you focus your fire straight ahead…?”

“Pffft, of course!” Spike answered with a dismissive wave of his claw.

“I can cast a spell to make me reasonably fireproof,” Sunset added. “However, I’m conjuring a highly flammable liquid in front of me, so I’m going to be spraying it at a really good pressure,” Sunset answered.

“Melt a hole through the center—” Twilight continued.

Sunset looked at Twilight quizzically, “Okay, but that won’t—”

“—To blow it up from inside!”

Spike went rigid and Sunset eye’s shot wide open. She and Spike could probably suddenly shift from ‘steady stream of flame’ to ‘colossal fireball in the center,’ but as hardy as Spike was and even with a few protection spells up, it felt like suicide.

Twilight had to know that.

A quick glance at the faces around showed that those who had a good grip on how magic worked knew that, too.

Tears began to stream from Celestia’s eyes to join the sweat already pouring from her face. “N-No, Twilight Sparkle. I won’t lose my daughter again!”

Her already speeding heart accelerating to turbo speeds, Sunset grit her teeth hard. “It’s fine,” she spat out. It wasn’t fine, but everypony was running out of time and options.

Rarity rushed up to Spike and threw her forehooves around him. “But what about poor Spikey-wikey?!” He’d be in the horrible explosion, too!”

Sunset glowered briefly at Rarity. However, Fluttershy trotted up to Sunset, glanced at her, then gently nuzzled her as if silently reassuring the mare that more than one pony present would certainly miss her presence.

Sunset averted her gaze from both Celestia and Fluttershy and fought back the pressure building behind her eyes.

Spike’s body loosened in Rarity’s grip. “Rarity… It’s okay. If it saves everypony—”

“It is most certainly NOT okay!” Rarity fired out. “You are not flying off on some sort of suicide mission!”

The weight of the suggestion having hit everypony, the many others joined Rarity and Celestia in the protest, including many of the Crystal ponies who voiced their concerns for “Spike the Brave and Glorious”.

Sunset’s eyes looked upward with steeled determination. “No… This has to be—”

Twilight’s frustrated and angry shout blasted into the melee of voices and pushed them aside. “Would everypony please kindly shut the heck up and let me finish!?” A creak from the ice above punctuated Twilight’s sentence and more ice chunks fell to the empire below with responding ‘thuds!’

Twilight had everypony’s undivided attention and she looked squarely at Sunset and Spike. “You two will m-melt a hole clear through from the bottom to the top.”

Sunset opened her mouth to reply and quickly thought better of it and let Twilight finish.

Twilight looked over the ponies until her eyes settled on Rainbow Dash. “Rainbow Dash, you’ll fly st-straight down through the hole Sunset and Spike creates and does a Sonic Rainboom in the center. The c-contained f-f-force should rip the block of ice apart and h-h-hopefully send most of it away from the Empire, or at least a-away from the center.”

The silence created by Twilight’s yelling lasted for just a moment more as Rainbow Dash’s eyes lit up like the grandmother of all professional Hearth’s Warming displays. “Twilight, Sunset,” Rainbow Dash began, “This is the best plan, in the history of plans.”

Sunset shot Twilight a smirk. Rainbow Dash was right; Sunset had just wished she had thought of it all on her own.

Though fatigued from continual minutes of magic use, Twilight returned the smirk, then grinned at Rainbow Dash a smile. “I-I-I thought you’d ap-approve.”

Applejack suddenly stepped forward in between Rarity and Fluttershy. “We’ll keep an eye on things down here… Maybe keep some ponies safe if some of that ice decides to fall straight down.” Applejack smiled wide. “Like Tartarus we’re going to take this lying down.” She looked over her friends. “Right?”

“Right!” Rarity and Fluttershy chimed in.

Pinkie grinned. “I’ll help, too!” she said enthusiastically.

Rarity looked at Pinkie quizzically. “Won’t you be watching the baby?”

Pinkie grinned wildly. “Oh, that’s how I’ll help…”

“Erm… Alright, darling.” Rarity looked over the crowd. “Well, I suppose we best get everypony in position for the Crystalling so this all goes as smoo—”

Twilight suddenly grunted as one of her forelegs gave out from under her and she took a knee. This seemed to cause a domino effect as the other ponies holding up the massive iceberg in the sky all let out grunts and cries as the frozen bulk above them cracked, groaned, and shifted. Magical beams began to diminish as deadly sized chunks of ice began to split off and fall to the ground. Even Cadance let out a strained cry of pain as she did all she could just to keep on her hooves.

“G-GO!” Twilight said at Sunset and Spike. “We’re not going to have any energy left at this point!”

“Pinkie!” Sunset braked. “Get the shards in position.”

“Okie-dokie-lokie!” Pinkie said as she zipped to the center pillar where the heart usually resided, pulled out a pink sack held closed with a rope from her mane and dumped the shards out at the pillar’s base.

“Alright, crew!” Applejack said. “Let’s herd some… well... herd some ponies!” She, Rarity, and Fluttershy suddenly rushed towards the crowd who were already beginning to disperse towards the front of the palace.

Sunset closed her eyes briefly as her horn glowed turquoise. A fiery-orange shimmering sheen suddenly enveloped her body. She opened her turquoise eyes that sparkled with determination. “Ready.” She unfurled her wings. “Spike climb aboard.”

“Roger that!” Spike exclaimed as he clambered onto Sunset’s back and fastened a seatbelt around his waist.

Sunset’s determined look flickered slightly as surprise came barreling in. “I have a seatbelt?!”

Spike shrugged. “It comes standard with the Alicorn model, apparently.”

“Oh, what the sideways FU—”

“Make HASTE, at ONCE!” Luna bellowed.

“FINE!” Sunset shouted as her lips curled up into a sneer that she quickly focused upwards. “Guess I’ll just find a nice, huge outlet for my anger!”

With a heavy flap of Sunset’s wings, she and Spike fired off straight up in the air like a bullet. They were quickly followed by Rainbow Dash who flew up and away to get to the side of the ice behemoth.

“Places, NOW!” Twilight barked.

Ponies all began to move very quickly, the pillars and planes of telekinetic magic suddenly disappeared, and a chunk of ice big enough to crush an empire began to fall.