Atlas and Discord lazily strolled through the open tundra while a blizzard angrily raged all around them. Compared to what they’d experienced back in the Crystal Kingdom, this storm was child’s play in comparison. With a watered down formation of what they’d used back then, they might as well have been walking through a grassy plain in the middle of spring. Atlas cleared the snow in their path while Discord made sure to block the wind and heating up their immediate vicinity.
Their usual tricks did nothing to help visibility, though. With the snowstorm raging around them they were stumbling around blindly in the frozen north. They had no idea where exactly the rumored city of unicorns was located, so they had no choice other than to pick a direction at random and hope to just stumble over it at some point.
It was their third day since entering the snowstorm, and the weather had made no signs of letting up anytime soon. There were rumors that the blizzard had started a few months ago and had been raging ever since, with no apparent cause. It might have been that some Windigoes came all the way here, but they most likely would have tried to extend their territory, unless Equestria was just too full of harmony currently for them to advance any further.
Since there was literally nothing else to do, Atlas and Discord had to stave off boredom with conversation as their only means to break up the monotony. They’d burned through most of their material over the first two days, including, but not limited to: Discord shenanigans when he was alone in Manehatten, Atlas’ life before becoming a pony, and the feasibility of a nation run by cutlery. Right now, Discord was polishing his acting a bit more, by telling Atlas stories in the most dramatic way he could.
A deep sigh from Atlas interrupted Discords performance.
“What’s wrong?” Discord asked with an impossibly high raised eyebrow.
“Nothing,” Atlas said. “I’m just getting worried a bit…”
“About what?”
“Whether or not we can actually find this mysterious town in the storm… We’ve been at it for three days now, and all we’ve seen is snow in every direction.” Atlas explained, his head held low.
“I’m sure we’ll find it eventually,” Discord said confidently. “The frozen north might be big, but it’s not infinite. If we keep walking I’m sure we’ll stumble over it or something eventually!”
“But, what if they placed wards against intruders?” Atlas asked dejected. “They might have set it up that everypony that doesn’t know the correct spell is guided away from them.”
“Is that even possible?” Discord asked skeptically. “I don’t think anything like that is at our cave, right? If we could’ve done that, wouldn’t you have placed such a convenient spell?”
“As far as we know there’s no such ward… but they might have made one by now…” Atlas said, his hopes taking a heavy hit, the more he thought about it.
After a few seconds of silence, a chuckle could be heard from Discord. Atlas was curious why he’d be laughing now, but couldn’t find the motivation in him to actually look up from the ground as he tirelessly walked straight forward.
“I’m sure we’ll find it soon now,” Discord said, barely containing his laughter. “It might happen at any moment.”
“Alright, what’s your deal? What’s so funny?” Atlas asked, spinning around to face Discord.
Aside from the huge grin Discord sported, Atlas was greeted by the sight of what appeared to be a magical shield holding back the raging snow outside of it. Now that he was somewhat aware of his surroundings, Atlas also noticed that the grass beneath his hooves wasn’t frozen anymore. Slowly, he turned around to face the direction he was heading in earlier, only to be stopped in awe.
They had entered what appeared to be a huge dome. The magical shield had a diameter of roughly six miles, shielding a city that was completely made out of some sort of crystal. What really caught his eye, though, was the giant tower in the center of it all, seemingly the source of the shield. Suddenly everything clicked in Atlas’ head, and he realized that the mysterious unicorn city he’d been hunting after had actually been the Crystal Empire.
Well, it might not have been an empire just yet, but it was impressive nonetheless.
“You could have told me less cryptically, you know?” Atlas said with a baffled expression.
“Yeah, but that wouldn't have been as funny,” Discord rebutted.
They could see ponies milling about the city in the distance, and if the rumors were to be believed, all of them were unicorns. Flashes of magic could be seen from time to time, illuminating the crystal buildings and creating a beautiful light show. Atlas was too preoccupied with taking the sights of the city that lay before him, that he didn’t notice the two armored unicorns approaching the two of them.
“Who goes there?” A gruff voice called out to them. “Identify yourselves!”
Atlas was snapped out of his stupor as he faced the two guards who came to a stop a respectable distance away from them. Discord took to the ground and seemed to try and hide behind Atlas, not really succeeding since he was quite a bit taller with his long body. The guards were wearing simple red robes instead of armor, if Atlas had to guess they were most likely enchanted.
“My name is Atlas and I’ve come here seeking knowledge,” Atlas introduced himself. “And this is Discord, my son.”
The guards stoic expressions faltered at Atlas words, staring incredulously at him.
“There’s no way you’ve fathered this… thing…” One of the guards waved at Discord, who only cringed slightly at being called a thing. “Who sent you?”
“Well, he’s my adopted son, of course,” Atlas replied with annoyance. “And nobody sent me, I just followed some rumors after the former Princess Platinum actually confirmed your existance for me.”
“Princess Platinum?” The two guards eyed them warily. “That might give you the right to enter the city, we will have to take you to our commander, he’ll decide on what to do with you.”
Atlas nodded with approval and made to approach the guards.
“The thing stays outside, this is a city for unicorns, and unicorns only,” One of the guards said, obviously displeased with Discord’s presence.
“If this is about you guys thinking that we unicorns are superior because we can cast magic, I can assure you, Discord is leagues above you guys in that area,” Atlas nodded towards Discord with a grin, who gave a mock salute back before snapping his talons.
A flash of light revealed Discord, now holding two unicorn horns, one in each hand. Atlas looked back towards the two guards, now decidedly hornless. He still held a grudge against racist ideologies since his experience in High Rock, so messing with these two was amusing to him. Apparently they hadn’t caught onto their luck yet, and just stared skeptically at Discord.
“You, what did you just do? Where did you get those horns from?” The guards switched to what seemed to be a combat stance before furrowing their brows. Both of them looked upwards to find their horns missing, which sent them into a panic.
“My horn’s gone!” A panicked shout escaped the two guards almost simultaneously. “What did you do?”
“Well, since you two can’t perform any magic, doesn’t that make you something else than unicorns?” Atlas said with an evil grin. “Care to leave?” He dramatically waved his hoof towards the blizzard raging outside, mere feet away from them.
The guards visibly paled before they frowned at the barrier separating them from certain doom. They did their best impression of a fish, as they alternated between looking at Atlas, Discord and the barrier respectively. Atlas let this go on for a while, watching them try to comprehend the situation they’d just found themselves in, until he deemed the prank had gone far enough.
“Alright that might have been a little mean, why don’t you give them back their horns now, Discord?” Atlas asked, and Discord complied with a smug grin.
The relief on the two guards faces was enormous, one of them even going as far as collapsing. Atlas knew that they would be shaken by the loss of their horn, but he considered it all a bit melodramatic. Apparently being a unicorn was a much bigger deal here than Atlas first believed.
“So, now that this little magic demonstration is over, you think Discord can stay?” Atlas asked off-handedly.
“Su… Sure…” The guard that was still standing responded shakily. “But the final verdict will still lie with the commander.”
“That’s just fine with me,” Atlas replied. “Care to show us the way?”
“Yeah, follow us and don’t stray…” He helped up his guard friend, who was still walking on unsteady legs and they started leading Atlas and Discord towards the city proper.
The way they took appeared to be the most direct way to their destination, since the guards didn’t allow them to stray, or sightsee at all. It quickly became apparent that they were headed towards the giant tower in the center, which looked just as Atlas remembered it from the show, but it seemed a lot larger and magnificent in person.
On their way, the unicorns they crossed paths with barely acknowledged the small entourages existence. A few seemed to recognize Atlas or even Discord and greeted them on their way past, which seemed to somewhat calm down their guides.
Before long they arrived at the base of the tower, and Atlas came face to face with the slowly spinning crystal heart. Just like in the show, it was held suspended between two crystal spikes, magical energies keeping it afloat as if the spikes were magnets.
Atlas stopped to wonder at the magical marvel, which didn’t please the guards and he was ushered along before he could take a proper look at it. They entered through a door into one of the four supporting structures of the tower, and after ascending a few flights of stairs and navigating the sparsely decorated halls of the crystal palace they arrived in front of a door that had three stars engraved on it.
One of the guards knocked before opening the door as they were given permission to enter. One by one the ponies and the draconequus entered into the office of the Commander. The inside could have almost been described as cozy, were it not for the fact that most of the interior was made from cold, hard, crystal.
Behind a desk sat a elderly looking, brown unicorn. His mane was dark brown and neatly cut short, a scar decorating his face just above his right eye. Two quills were filling out forms to either side of him, and even then, he managed to focus his attention on the newcomers in the room without stopping his work.
“Report,” The Commander said before Atlas caught a glimpse of a nameplate that let him know the pony before him was called Terra Form.
“Sir,” The two guards saluted. “We found these two on patrol inside the shield near the southern border. They’ve identified themselves as Atlas and Discord and claim to have connections to Princess Platinum. The one calling himself Discord seems to be the unicorn’s adopted son, his ability to cast magic has been… verified. Since this is a rather unique case we thought it prudent to elevate the decision on whether or not they may stay here to you, sir.”
“Thank you for bringing this to my attention,” Terra said. “You may leave us.”
“Sir!” The two guards saluted and left the room in short order.
“So you are the infamous Atlas,” Terra said once they’d left. “Your name was widely known back in the Kingdom. What brings the like of one such as you, all the way to our doorstep? Do you wish to join our cause? Or are you merely here, seeking knowledge?”
“Well, I really don’t know anything about your cause, except that all of the unicorns here are purists,” Atlas said calmly, not faltering under the steely gaze he received. “I was merely curious. A city full of unicorns, dedicated to the research of the magical arts. You’ve been here for quite some time, so I’d wager a guess that you’ve invented some nifty things by now. Seeing that you’ve built a city entirely made out of crystal, this huge palace, and whatever powers your shield, I’d say I’m spot on.”
“And you believe we’d just give up all that knowledge to you on a silver platter?”
“Oh, heavens no,” Atlas waved him off. “I’d of course greatly appreciate it if you did, but let’s be honest here, you won’t. Thing is, I’ve been doing quite a lot of research of my own and I’m one of only two ponies alive that knows how to properly create runes.” he let the information sink in for a bit. “So what do you say? You scratch my back, I scratch yours. Sounds like a good deal, no?”
Atlas adopted a confident smile, but on the inside he was actually quite nervous. He felt like he was doing a sales pitch to a bunch of corporate assholes. He’d thought a lot about how he should approach this situation, especially since he didn’t want to join their community permanently. He decided that a confident appearance and the offer of exchanging knowledge would probably be his best shot. Over the years he’d been here, Atlas had gained quite a bit of confidence in himself, but he never really got rid of his stagefright, and even if he only had an audience of two, the tension was almost too much as he waited for the verdict.
“So you really do not want to join us permanently?” Terra inquired. “You’d be a real boon to our community. Yours is a well known name around here, I’m sure you’d fit right in.”
“I’m afraid no,” Atlas replied. “I’ve got my own base of operations, and I’m doing some research which I can’t let anypony else see.”
“We’d be able to provide you with all the facilities you’d ever want here,” Terra pushed further.
“Thanks a lot for the offer, but I’ll just stick to my own lab, it’s already perfectly set-up for what I need,” Atlas defended, hoping to shut the discussion down.
Terra looked unhappy about the direction the conversation was going. It seemed like he wanted to convince Atlas to stay at all costs.
“How about this then, I’ll have someone show you around the place, show you what we can offer you and then you’ll make your decision.” The smile Terra showed was almost creepy as he waited for Atlas reply.
“That would be agreeable,” Atlas relented.
He wouldn’t stay no matter what, but acting like he was on-board seemed like the right move. Terra looked just about ready to try and force Atlas to stay, and Atlas didn’t want to escalate the situation needlessly. Terra’s horn flashed for a second, causing Atlas to flinch, but no attack ever came.
“Wonderful,” Terra explained, this time with a genuine smile. “I’ve just called for one of our best mages to show you around. He’ll be able to explain everything you’d like to know. Please don’t hesitate to ask questions, and I’m sure you’ll find our facilities to your liking.”
Terra got up from his chair behind the desk and walked around it. Atlas got up as well and he was guided to the door by the commander, who acted all buddy-buddy with him now. Discord was largely ignored for some reason yet he followed close behind, not wanting to stray too far from Atlas. On the other side of the door a unicorn was already waiting for them.
His coat was orange and his mane white and unkempt. He was wearing a blue robe which concealed his cutie mark, a stylish pair of glasses resting on his muzzle. He blew away some hair that fell in front of his face and seemed to tickle his nose.
“Hello! I’m Chop Stick, head of research of our manipulation department, I hear you’re interested in a tour?” The unicorn introduced itself with a happy-go-lucky attitude.
“Uhh… yeah,” Atlas responded awkwardly.
“Stick, just a second if you’d please,” Terra took Chop Stick a few steps away to discuss something.
Atlas thought he’d heard the words “make sure” and “at all costs” in the hushed conversation they were having, which didn’t please him at all. Using the momentary distraction Atlas used the time to set his own plans into motion.
“Discord,” Atlas got Discords attention who was still standing just behind him.
“What is it?” Discord asked curiously.
“These guys are bad news, but I want to know what they’ve got,” Atlas explained in a hushed tone. “We might have to run for it, they don’t seem like they’ll just let me leave like that.”
“We won’t have to fight, will we?” Discord said nervously, while checking if anybody was listening to them.
“I sure hope not…” Atlas whispered. “Listen, they all seem intent to mostly ignore you, judging by how Terra and that Stick guy have been acting… I’ll have him show me around and I want you to steal as much of their research as you can. Do you think you can teleport scrolls all the way back to our lab and leave behind some dummies?”
“Easily,” Discord grinned. “I don’t know how many I can send over this large of a distance, though…”
“However many you manage to send will be enough,” Atlas assured him. “Just make sure you don’t get caught.”
“I’m sure I can manage,” Discord replied confidently. “What if they do though?”
“Then we’ll have to fight,” Atlas said grimly. “Probably. If it ends up that way, we’ll just teleport to the edge of the shield and book it with what we have, if we’re lucky, they won’t pursue us.”
“Got it,” Discord said, and slunk back behind Atlas, as Terra and Stick were returning from their own secret chat, both smiling widely.
By now, there was no doubt in Atlas’ mind that this was a proverbial dead end. He’d just have to collect as much data as possible before skedaddling out of the Empire. If at all possible he wanted to avoid open conflict, as he did not enjoy hurting ponies.
Technically, everypony in this city was an idiotic racist anyway, so he wouldn’t hold back should it come to a fight.
“Well then, are you ready for the best tour ever?” Chop Stick asked with impossibly high spirits.
“Sure,” Atlas replied, sporting the fake smile he used back on earth when talking to a customer.
“I’m sure you are! How about we head straight to one of our research facilities? I heard you’d taken manipulation as your major back in the kingdom, how about we go to that department first?” Chop Stick engaged Atlas in a conversation as he lead him down the halls of the palace, decidedly ignoring Discords existence.
“Transformation, more specifically,” Atlas supplied the information. “I feel like I’ve already mastered that to some degree, I’d actually like to visit a department that I don’t have as much experience with, if you don’t mind. How about… the department researching the School of Energy?”
“Most certainly! An excellent choice!” Chop Stick replied excitedly, beginning to grate on Atlas’s nerves. “We’ve made some great strides in that area, you’re about to see some amazing strides in spellcraft, friend!”
Atlas cringed when he was called “friend” by this guy he just met. The commander’s game-plan couldn’t be more obvious by now; next time, Atlas would recommend a more subtle tour guide.
“I… can’t wait,” Atlas said with a strained smile.
They exited the palace halls out of the same door they came in earlier, and Atlas spotted the one thing he was probably the most curious about in this entire city, the Crystal Heart.
“Hey, what’s that thing anyway? Looks important,” Atlas said nonchalantly while pointing at the floating crystal.
Chop Stick seemed to flinch slightly when Atlas asked, but caught himself pretty quickly. For a second he really looked like he didn’t want to tell Atlas, but remembered that he needed Atlas to stay “,at all cost.”
“Ah, I see you are a stallion of taste as well,” Chop Stick said. “This, is the Crystal Heart, our cities magnum opus, I dare say.”
“Oh, really?” Atlas asked, slightly amused. “What’s it do?”
“Well, it powers the shield that keeps out the frigid weather and a lot more facilities inside of the palace,” Chop Stick said proudly. “Basically, it’s a storage gem for mana, like you’ve probably seen before, but this one's special. We figured out how to create a much more powerful version of the regular ones, you see? It’s at least one-thousand times as effective as a large storage gem, and the best part? It recharges itself!”
“A thousand times more effective?” Atlas reeled back. “That’s insane! How did this not blow up in your faces instantly?”
A large storage gem could usually hold enough mana to cast one high tier spell, or power a magic light for about three months. The larger the gem and the amount stored inside, the more difficult the process. Large gems were already pretty difficult to make, so the crystal hearts mere existence should be impossible. Suddenly, Atlas was really glad that he came here.
“Let me tell you, it wasn’t easy and it comes with a lot of prerequisites.” Chop Sticks explained. “So far, we’ve only managed to make one… that was stable, anyways. As coincidence would have it, we’re headed to the very department that created it. I’m sure they’ll be happy to tell you all about it, since I’ll have to admit that my knowledge is severely lacking in the area.”
“Oh, I’d love to learn all about it!” Atlas said excitedly.
Chop Stick seemed to be pleased by Atlas’ reaction, since it was a good sign for him. He waved Atlas along and lead him into a seemingly random street, intent to get to the Department of Energy as fast as possible. Meanwhile, Atlas gave Discord a meaningful look behind Sticks back, which Discord answered with a sly smile and a thumbs up.
Atlas needed this technology, and he was prepared to fight for it, if he had to.
-----------------------------------------------
“And here we have unicorns working on creating a spell that heightens a ponies physical abilities,” Lightning Rod explained.
Lightning Rod was the head of research for the energy department. Her mane was a deep silver and her coat an electrifying yellow, a mana vortex served as her cutie mark. After Chop Stick explained the situation to her, she was more than happy to show Atlas around the premises and explain their research to him in as much detail as possible.
Just as planned Discord was almost invisible to these ponies, so the little rascal had no problems abducting a few scrolls here and there, his movement almost snake like on occasion.
The tour had now been going on for close to three hours and Atlas had already learned a ton. All of his knowledge from the School of Energy came from books and what little Starswirl knew about it, so seeing all these physical presentations was like a chest full of treasure to him.
“The spell is far from perfected yet, but we’ve had some mixed successes,” Lightning explained further. “The flow of mana has to be very precise and seems to differ for each unicorn, so for now, they’re looking for a discernable pattern. The effects let you hit harder, run faster, jump higher; if it’s got to do with physical strength, it gets enhanced.”
“That sounds very useful,” Atlas said, watching as a unicorn jumped so high that he hit his head on the ceiling. “Yet also, slightly dangerous.”
“Oh, as a fellow researcher I’m sure you can agree that all experimental spells are dangerous to some degree.” Lightning jested.
“Tell me about it,” Atlas giggled. “I can’t remember the amount of times I’ve burnt whole patches of fur off experimenting with new spells.”
“Likewise,” Lightning nodded sagely. “Why don’t we move on?”
“Lead the way,” Atlas gestured for her to take the lead, while watching Discord from the corner of his eyes. He had just emptied one of the bookshelves in the room without anypony noticing, replacing the material with dummies.
“So,” Lightning Rod said, stopping in front of a door that had her name engraved on it. “I’ve been told you’ve taken particular interest in the Crystal Heart and how it functions?”
“Oh, most definitely,” Atlas replied giddily. Finally, they were getting to the good part.
“You must know that this knowledge isn’t really public domain, and under normal circumstances I wouldn’t allow anypony to see what I’m about to show you,” Lightning said with a serious face. “But I’ve been told that permission has been given for you to review anything you like.”
“I greatly appreciate it,” Atlas replied, trying to hide his excitement.
“I do implore you to decide to stay here with us,” Lightning said. “The Crystal Heart is just the tip of the iceberg. If you’d decide to stay… there would be a lot more that we could show you.”
“If that’s what it takes to take a look at these research papers, I’m all yours,” Atlas said, grinning widely.
Atlas could hear Chop Stick squeal somewhere behind him, no doubt happy about Atlas’ “decision”. The stallion was more or less just following them like a zombie ever since they’d started the tour, nodding along happily, and now it was finally paying off. Promotion: Inbound.
“Well, let me be the first to welcome you then,” Lightning said with a relieved smile. “Let’s go in and take a look.”
Her horn started to glow, and a series of clicks could be heard from behind the door, following a complicated rhythm. After a final “clunk” the door swung inwards revealing a office space that was positively overrun with scrolls and books.
“Sorry for the mess,” Lightning chuckled. “You know how it is…”
Atlas and Chop Stick both nodded knowingly as they entered, careful not to step on anything. Discord slinking in behind them just before the door closed again, he dove under a pile of loose paper, just to make sure his presence was as low as it could be.
Lightning Rod walked behind her desk and opened the bottom drawer, again, a series of clicks could be heard. This research must be really valuable to them, if security for it was this tight. This might be the only chance Atlas would get to look at these designs.
A stack of papers of varying sizes floated out of the drawer, and after she cleared some space on her desk, were set down for Atlas to look at. Greedily, his eyes scanned the papers, going so far as picking them up in his levitation to take a closer look. Lightning didn’t seem happy about this, but held her tongue.
The methods used for creating the Crystal Heart were truly revolutionary, yet Atlas could clearly see why it was dangerous. If a power source of that size became unstable, you could most likely level a city with it. While the other two unicorns were distracted by the floating research papers, Atlas signed for Discord to come closer.
“This is truly amazing! A work of Art! Perfection!” Atlas praised the research. “This could change the whole of Equestria, nay, Equus!”
“Oh shucks,” Lightning Rod said, clearly proud of her work. “It would be really nice if it did.”
“Yes, the possibilities are truly endless!” Chop Stick interjected.
Both of them had a dreamy look in their eyes, clearly imagining all the things they could do if they could make more of these gems.
“Is there a reason for it to be shaped like a heart, though?” Atlas asked off-handedly.
“Oh no, that’s just a personal preference,” Lightning Rod replied. “I just thought it’d look better that way.”
“Thank you, that’s all I needed to know,” Atlas said with a smirk.
“What?”
“Huh?”
A momentary flash of confusion crossed the two unicorns faces, just before they were sent crashing into the opposite wall by a powerful shockwave spell originating from Atlas. The moment their bodies hit the wall, they were frozen stuck to it, their horns completely encased in ice, rendering them pretty much useless, unless they could channel fire magic.
“Huh? Ow… What's going on?” Chop Stick said drowsily, apparently he had hit his head.
“What do you think you’re doing?” A more conscious Lightning Rod asked infuriated. “Release us right this instant!”
“I’m afraid I can’t do that,” Atlas said, stacking the research into a neat pile. “You see, I need this research, and to be perfectly honest, I’m not sure I want a bunch of racist bigots to have it either.”
Atlas handed the papers to the freshly emerged Discord, who snapped his talons once, causing the research to disappear with a flash.
“No! My research!” Lightning Rod cried out. “How could you?”
“Just grab as much as you can, Discord, I’ll teleport us both out, so use up your mana if you have to,” Atlas said.
“Roger that,” Discord saluted and started spiriting away anything that looked even remotely interesting.
“No! No! Stop!” Lightning Rod was struggling against the ice that bound her and was starting to tear up. “I beg of you, don’t do this!”
“I’m sorry, I truly am,” Atlas said with an apologetic look on his face. “I’m sure you’ve put your heart and soul into this work, and it pains me to just take it by force like this.
“Yet, here’s a word of advice: Your purist outlook on life will get you nowhere in the end. Learn to live with the other races, let some actual love into your heart instead of just carving it into a gem in a hollow attempt to compensate.”
“All done!” Discord said beside him, once more saluting.
A quick scan by Atlas showed that the room was now almost deprived of anything consisting of paper, much to his glee. He almost couldn’t wait to go over all of it once they were home.
“And one more thing,” Atlas said to the crying Lightning Rod. “If there’s one thing I hate, it’s racists. Hope you made a backup.”
A flash of light later, Atlas and Discord had disappeared from the room. Chop Stick was still confused, not quite able to get a clear thought in while Lightning Rod was now openly sobbing. Her life's work had just been mercilessly stolen from under her nose. She’d never forget the words left with her from the one who did it.