“And there we have it,” Doctor Kelly declares as she beholds a holographic screen displaying the information they just scanned for. “The resonance frequency of your so-called Red Crystal.”
“Which tells us what, exactly?” Feather Wind asks her. “I'm sorry, but I'm not so accustomed to this kind of information.”
Doctor Kelly uses her magic to float the Red Crystal itself closer to her hooves as she continues to sit on her floating, spherical chair and suck on her lollipop. More information scrolls on the inside of her holographic lenses while she stares down at the Red Crystal.
“Why, this information tells us no less than the magical frequency of this crystal itself,” Doctor Kelly explains. “Every magical object has one. That is what makes it magical. If it is magical, then it'll have energy radiating off of it that has a specific frequency. Understanding that is tantamount to understanding our D-N-A codes.”
“So the basic genetic codes that make up our bodies,” Feather Wind rephrases.
“You heard of that?” Doctor Kelly remarks in surprise with a lift of her left eyebrow as she eyes Feather Wind with interest. “That doesn't seem like the kind of knowledge that would be common in your time.”
“It isn't common,” Feather Wind confirms. “I just happen to be a member of the Scroll family who are scholars among the social elite of Canterlot, so we not only have access to some of the greatest repositories of knowledge in our world, but I also happen to like reading in general.” He shrugs. “Runs in the family, I guess. The Scroll family have the sacred duty to preserve knowledge for pony kind. In order to do that, we must preserve a healthy respect for it, too.” He nods. “Knowledge is power, and my family knows that well and takes that seriously.
“I write too, by the way. Mostly personal journals and poems.”
“Wonderful! I'd like to read some of your work someday,” Doctor Kelly cheers. “In doing so, I can get a basic psyche evaluation of ponies of your social class from your native world and time.”
Feather Wind briefly closes his eyes as he nods while saying, “With pleasure.” He opens his eyes and returns his gaze to Doctor Kelly. “In the meantime, how does knowing the energy signature of this crystal help us to attune to it?”
“It's sort of like finding the keyhole to a door,” Doctor Kelly says as she looks back at the tri-tip Red Crystal between her hooves. “That kind of information allows us to proceed far more efficiently. The next step is communicating to the crystal using the resonance frequency that we just identified. That would be like creating the key necessary for this keyhole and then inserting it. My kind, the Magi, are experts at this. Learning to detect and project resonant magical frequencies is so refined for our kind that we have learned to use it as another type of reading and speaking language. Some of our kind call it, 'Magic Tongue'.”
“Fascinating!” Feather Wind commends with delight. “Do you think you can teach me this Magic Tongue?”
“That depends on how well you can sense and project magical energies,” Doctor Kelly answers. “The ability to detect magical energies is equivalent to being able to hear this language. The ability to project very fine and detailed types of magical frequencies is equivalent to learning how to vocalize this language. It's second nature to us Magi, but it may also be an evolutionary skill. My guess is you technically can learn this language, but it would be much harder for you and you'll never be as good at it as an average Magi.” She lowers the crystal to her lap as she gives Feather Wind a frank look. “But even if you do master this language, it would do you no good other than to speak to others who know this language.” She blinks as she realizes something. “Oh! And learning this language would help to train you to identify other magical frequencies in detail. That, in turn, could teach you more about it. Knowledge like that could even tip you off if the magical energy you detect indicates the presence of danger or not, like sensing and properly identifying a magical trap. Normally a magical trap is meant to be hidden, but if you speak the right language, you'd realize that a certain magical signature is publicly telling you, 'I am a magical trap. If you pass within six feet of my magical glyph, I will drop a fireball down on top of you and anypony else nearby you.'”
“That could be very useful to know,” Feather Wind affirms. “I assume sensing and speaking this magical language is significantly more possible for a unicorn like myself, and especially one who is a trained wizard. In that case, if I can refine my skills to be even more useful for my friends, then I'm all for it. It'll be another way for me to contribute to the health and safety of the party.
“Add to that, gathering information would always be useful. Even if it's not a dangerous trap, like the glyph you previously mentioned would spring healing energy instead of a fireball, that's still useful to know, especially if there are other limitations we should be aware of like this 'trap' can only spring on this spot once a day. Knowing that, we might try to mark the location it is at and save it until it would be most useful to us, or sell this information to anypony else we might encounter who are friendly to us.
“Knowledge is power, like I said, and my family has always considered that sacred. Accordingly, I would be very much honored if you would teach me.”
“Spoken like a true wizardly scholar. You are, indeed, a very interesting companion, Feather Wind,” Doctor Kelly commends. “As such, you convinced me. Time permitting, I'll teach you what I know. I bow to your logic as well, for I am among those 'friends' that you spoke of. Learning how to protect me better can only serve to my benefit in the long gallop.”
“To the benefit of us all,” Feather Wind refines.
“Indeed.” Doctor Kelly looks at then lifts the Red Crystal again. “In the meantime, I'll put my focus on this new project. Give me a moment while I project the kind of frequency this crystal is emanating. In doing so, it'll be my way of saying 'hello'. Once I establish more of a rapport with it, I can consider myself officially attuned to this magic crystal.”
“Alright,” Feather Wind accepts then falls silent.
Doctor Kelly then gives the Crystal a focused stare as she projects the kind of energy that this Crystal is radiating. However, after a few seconds, a potential problem occurs to Feather Wind. In alarm, he widens his eyes and then opens his mouth to warn his companion of something, but it is too late. The Red Crystal flashes as it absorbs her mind.
“Oh my! This is . . . unexpected,” Doctor Kelly remarks as she beholds her new environment. She spins about as she takes in her surroundings. In doing so, she notices that she seems to be in an entire city that is apparently made of crystal, but seemingly different types of crystal as well. That accounts for each color she is observing.
The city also appears to be nighttime, yet there is a curious light that permeates the area at the same time. Not only is there a swirl of rainbow colors above her, but every crystalline structure all around her, which is pretty much everything (including the ground she's on), seems to absorb some of the light projected above and reflect it back, albeit more dimly.
Doctor Kelly's mind goes numb for a brief moment because she isn't certain how to process all this.
Fortunately for her, a guide soon appears.
“Doctor Kelly! Are you okay?!” Feather Wind cries out in alarm as he suddenly appears out of thin air.
“Where, um . . . where exactly are we now?” Doctor Kelly asks in stunned surprise.
“We're inside the crystal,” Feather Wind explains as he gently floats down to the ground as if he has the weight of a feather. “Or, at least, our minds are. Our bodies are still in your room in the TARDIS.”
“It absorbed our minds? Really?” Doctor Kelly asks Feather Wind in fascinated surprise. Magi gems where she comes from usually don't do this.
“I'm so sorry I didn't warn you before you attempted to attune to this crystal,” Feather apologizes. “By the time I recalled it can do this, it was already too late. To be fair, though, I wasn't certain it could do that to you as well. The first time I came here, the one resident spirit who dwells here said that only members of his family can enter this place. That happened to me the first time I touched this Crystal. At the time, I was in a frozen lake and drowning.”
“Oh.” Doctor Kelly blinks in surprise. “My-my. That wasn't ideal.”
“Fortunately for me, time is relative here,” Feather explains as he examines his surroundings as well. “Relative and customizable. Time can run as slowly or as fast as we want to in here relative to the time flow outside of this crystal.”
“I see,” Doctor Kelly says with a fascinated blink as she resumes her visual scan of their surroundings.
“Something else you should know is that, while in here, we are just a mental construct,” Feather explains. “That means we didn't enter with our corporeal bodies, nor are we limited to our physical constraints thereof. For example . . .”
For the next several seconds, Feather Wind keeps teleporting about her. Sometimes he appears in mid-air and hovers there for a second. He ends this demonstration by teleporting in front of her, except he was in her form for two seconds before shifting back into his own.
“See?” Feather Wind asks. “Since only our minds are in here and not our bodies then we can do whatever we can imagine while in here, but only within this place.” He gestures about. “Similarly, the rest of this environment is made of the same stuff. None of this is real and can be changed on a whim, but it is based on a memory of a place that once actually existed in our world.”
“Okay,” Doctor Kelly says with a nod of acceptance. “I can hoofle those facts. After all, that's not too dissimilar to the holograms we can project on my home world.” She focuses on Feather Wind. “But there are several things you said that have claimed my curiosity. For starters, you said that the appearance of this place is based on the memory of a place that once actually existed?”
“Correct,” Feather confirms.
“Then what is the name of this place? Is this from your home world? And why does it exist no longer?”
Feather Wind sighs as he looks about then gestures about them as he introduces, “Behold the memory of the Crystal Empire of the Frozen North on Equestria which is on my home planet, or at least this is how it used to look about nine centuries before I was born. Currently, or at least in my time, the city is no longer there, nor would any pony find a trace of it anymore. According to the one spirit who dwells in this place, the true Crystal Empire is trapped in limbo because of a spiteful curse and last resort of his dark counterpart who once ruled this beautiful city with a cruel iron hoof.”
Doctor Kelly lifts a hoof as she requests, “Whoa. Wait a minute. Slow down here. You should probably trot me through this from the beginning. After that, I request you to take me to the one spirit who dwells in this beautiful yet obviously forlorn place.”
Feather Wind nods in agreement and then proceeds to explain to her how a dark magic infused crystal, which was discovered in the fringes of the Crystal Empire, cursed a pony named Sombra which later divided him into two. The good half lost the battle between them and then encased the last of his essence in this crystal while his evil clone, now in possession of his original body, terrorized and laid claim to this city and thus ousting the original benevolent queen. He also explained how his family, the Scroll family, are among the decedents of Sombra's bloodline.
After that explanation, he teleports them both to the guardian and lone resident spirit within this crystal.
The next location they appear in is a crystalline cave. Both of them are immediately taken aback by how beautiful this cave is. Swirls of color dance, reflect, and refract within this cave.
Ahead of them, they see a lone stallion floating above the ground with forehooves outstretched to his side. A stallion who has a gray hide, black mane and tail, and has a cutie mark of a tri-tip red crystal. As he floats there, his horn glows crimson. The only article of clothing he is a wearing a long scarlet scarf.
Floating in the air along with him is nine other crystals that surround him in a circle. The colors of those crystals are red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, purple, golden, and finally radiant white. Each of those crystals are emitting a harmonic note of a song at a certain frequency range. They are singing together at the moment Feather Wind and Doctor Kelly appear, but their song fluctuates as it continues. Sometimes certain crystals almost go silent while still others pick up in volume, but none of them ever hum solo that Feather or Kelly notices after they appear.
Both visitors do not know what is going on, but they deduce some kind of magic ritual is being performed before them. As such, they politely hold their silence until whatever this is is done.
It takes a while for this to conclude, during which time they are both subjected to hauntingly beautiful and very otherworldly music. When it finally concludes, each of the nine crystals gently floats down and spread out. They seem to merge with the walls around them. The gray stallion, too, also gently floats down in the center of all this.
“Thank you both for not interrupting,” the gray stallion says as he rises from his trance. “Now then,” he turns his head about to look back at them. In doing so, they can both see his crimson eyes and black sideburns on his head. “What can I do for you both?” He narrows his eyes. “And we have a new visitor, I see. This is most auspicious.”
“Indeed,” Feather Wind confirms. “Allow me to introduce a new companion who recently joined us in the TARDIS, Doctor Kelly Saddler, and Doctor Kelly, I formally introduce to you the lone resident of this crystal and the true, original soul of Sombra who now calls himself Crystal Sage.”
Doctor Kelly is startled for a brief second when Crystal Sage suddenly appears in front of her and now fully facing her direction. From there, Crystal Sage gently scoops up her right hoof and kisses it before saying, “Milady, I bid you welcome.”
“Oh! Such a gentlepony,” Doctor Kelly remarks.
“I beg your pardon if you find any of this unsettling,” Crystal Sage apologizes with very refined politeness. “I wasn't expecting extra compony. Least of all from a fair maiden.” He nods at her. “Indeed, you have the honor and distinction of being the very first mare to ever grace my compony in this crystal.”
“And you seem to be a pony from a very cultured background. Nobility, perhaps?” Doctor Kelly guesses. In answer, Crystal Sage closes his eyes as he nods and bows to her. “Interesting coincidence. Both of you hail from the same family bloodline, and both of you happen to be nobility as well in your native cultures.”
“I'm sure we have other branches of our family across the centuries who hail from all trots of life,” Feather Wind surmises.
“And speaking of lineage, that should be the only reason you're able to join us here,” Crystal Sage notes.
Doctor Kelly squints one eye as she says, “Now in that regard, I can't be sure yet. It is possible, but I'll need to do a detailed analysis and comparison of Feather Wind and my DNA. There may be many centuries and entire worlds dividing us, though, so I'm not sure if I'll reach any definitive conclusion. In the meantime, I can tell you that my method of entrance may have less to do with my genetic structure and more to do with science.”
“Oh?” Crystal Sage asks with a fascinated uplift of his left eyebrow while still regarding Doctor Kelly.
“I hail from a different world but our lineage can be traced back to Equestria,” Doctor Kelly informs. “In my world, we have developed very advanced technology which is based on magic, crystals, and reversed engineered tech of the Time Lords, our would-be conquerors were it not for the Doctor's future endeavors to save us from this threat.”
Crystal Sage chuckles in amusement before he says, “Prior to my meeting with Feather Wind here and his subsequent encounter with a legendary alien simply known to us as 'The Doctor', I have not spoken the words, 'timey-wimey' before. However, ever since this encounter, those pair of words have been spoken with a noticeable degree of frequency that I personally find as amusing as I also find them disturbing.”
Both Feather Wind and Doctor Kelly both erupt into a chuckle fit for about four seconds. After that, they calm down followed by Feather Wind stating, “That seems to come with the territory and the nature of these types of adventures. As we continue our trek among the stars in a time and space machine, I'm guessing terms like that may increase in frequency.” He shrugs helplessly. “That's just the way it goes.”
“Well, in any case, how may I be of service to you two?” Crystal Sage offers again.
“Her arrival in here was just an accident,” Feather Wind explains. “She was messing around and trying to attune herself to this crystal using methods and tools more known to her kind. While doing that, I recalled, too late, how this crystal has been known to absorb minds before. Such took place before I could warn her about it. When it happened, I touched the Crystal myself to follow her down here, explain things, and if necessary, show her how to leave this place.”
“But while here, I became fascinated by at least a dozen things,” Doctor Kelly chimes in. “For starters, in a way, this is my very first glimpse into my kind's original homeworld, albeit nine centuries out of date relative to Feather's native time. Nonetheless, I felt drawn to discover more. The fact that everything in this city is made of crystal piqued my curiosity too. After all, my kind, the Magi, are quite adept at crystal magic as well, but something about this place feels a little more . . . Oh. What's the word?”
“Authentic?” Feather Wind offers.
Doctor Kelly winces as she says, “More like archaic, but in a fascinatingly beautiful way.” She applies a hoof to her chest as she goes on to say, “Unlike most of my peers, I actually enjoy studying history and other foreign cultures. The other world in our own history especially fascinated me. Understanding that may help us to understand and connect with a deeper meaning within ourselves. All of this is very different from what I am used to.” She gazes around in wonder. “And I want to learn more about it.”
“Then you have come to the right place, Milady, or at least as close as we have access to,” Crystal Sage declares politely. He tilts his head and winces slightly as he goes on to say, “One thing you said that has piqued my curiosity, too, is the further development of crystal science. Well,” he turns to his left side to display his cutie mark then uses his tail to gesture to it as he says, “As you can see and surmise by my chosen name, I have some expertise with crystal science.”
“That beautiful display with the hovering and glowing singing crystals fortifies that opinion as well,” Doctor Kelly says with deep fascination as she gazes past Crystal Sage to where he used to be. She then focuses her attention back on him as she asks, “What was the purpose of this ceremony, if I may be so bold as to ask? Forgive me for saying this, but it seems significantly less scientific than I'm accustomed to.”
Crystal Sage turns his head to look back at where he was as he says, “That is pretty hard to explain.” He looks back at her as he fully turns to face her again. “But suffice it to say that my knowledge of the depth of crystal science requires a certain degree of refinement and attunement to remain this adept. As you can see,” he waves a hoof behind him, “all crystals have their own resonance frequency and that means they each have their own soul. A different color in a rainbow or a note to a song. Joining them as they sing together helps to increase the depth of that understanding. To master the crystal is to know its essence. You have to see yourself as One with it.” He nods back to where he was. “The ceremony you saw was a way for me to expand upon that knowledge, understanding, and communion.”
“That's so fascinating because it's so different from my own culture,” Doctor Kelly says with a smile.
“How does your culture attune themselves to the crystals, if I may be so bold as to ask?” Crystal Sage reflects questioningly.
“Crystals are great repositories for data and energy storage,” Doctor Kelly begins to explain. “We simply program them with a very digital and organized system which we use to commune with them. It is highly technical and, compared to your method, far more mundane.” She looks past him. “Judging from what I have seen, your method seems far less reliable, I guess . . . because our methods rely on a tried and true system.” She looks back at him. “It's very formulaic. Once we got the formula down to a system that works, then it always works as long as we follow every step that leads to success.
“On the other hoof, your method seems far more engaging and, well . . . for a lack of a better word . . . beautiful. I have never seen anything so enchanting, and I have lived for almost three hundred years.”
“Really?!” Feather Wind gasps. “Can all of your kind get that old and/or older?”
“Actually, our physical lifespan isn't much different from yours,” Doctor Kelly explains to Feather. “Except we have a method to artificially youthen us using a regeneration pod. It is like a bed that has a case that covers us. Then, while we lie there for the next nine hours on average, the pod bathes us in energy which youthens and rejuvenates our cellular structure but also leaves our minds intact,” she says as she points at her head three times. “In fact, that is exactly what governs our maximum lifespan. Not our physical growth because we can keep on fixing that, but rather our physical brain's total capacity to acquire more information. Eventually, when we start to hit our limit, which is around four-hundred years on average, then we start to develop a series of mental problems that, collectively, we call 'Centennial Psychosis'. When that happens, we no longer qualify for another regeneration cycle.”
Doctor Kelly gazes forward at nothing as she goes on to say, “The true limit of our lifespan has more to do with the degree of knowledge we've acquired rather than our regeneration cycles. Those who have ravenously devoured as much knowledge as possible, like me, tend to live shorter lives because we're filling up our brains' total capacity faster. I probably don't have much time left accordingly, but that said, our brains' true total capacity varies from pony to pony.”
Doctor Kelly looks back at Feather as she resumes.
“On the other hoof, those who lived very simple lives and generally avoided learning as much as possible could, on average, live much longer lives as long as they maintain a certain health balance, for there is such a thing as too little knowledge as well. The brain needs some workout to function properly.”
Doctor Kelly rubs the back of her neck for a moment before dropping that hoof back to the ground and goes on to say, “One of the longest recorded ponies in our history lived for a total of seven hundred and thirty-two years. During that time, he mostly spent it just meditating. He kept things simple, avoided overstimulation, and in his twilight years he made the claim that what he lacked in worldly knowledge he more than made up for in spiritual knowledge.”
Following that statement, Doctor Kelly gives an innocent shrug as she says, “As you said before, to each, their own.
“As for you,” she continues as she looks back at Crystal Sage. “I can tell there is an air about you that marks you as far more mature than any of the ponies I recently traveled with save for the Doctor. Compared to you, me, and the Doctor, the others are downright adorable to me. They feel like foals to me and they are compared to our maturity level. Seeing them partially awakens my maternal instincts, but I restrain that with a certain degree of caution and common sense that I have gathered over these centuries.
“You, however, I can look upon more as a true equal, for you know the depths of the weight that much time can put upon an individual mind.”
“The weight of time is not always a kind thing,” Crystal Sage says wearily. “Much of that time I have spent longing for true rest from my guilt and my burdens.”
“True, but it still has matured you to a level these young ones cannot understand yet. Maybe not even ever,” Doctor Kelly proposes. “Regardless of how you feel about the time you've spent, I still think there is a lot of honor and dignity in that. You've come this far. Be proud of that.”
Crystal Sage smiles at her tiredly but softly then bows to her as he says, “Milady, thy wisdom and compassion doth serve you well. Consider this old soul flattered to be graced by thy presence.”