//------------------------------//
// 1 
// Story: Shadow of the Heart 
// by TuniPeace 
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"Princess Celestia! Princess Celestia!" Twilight Sparkle cried as she galloped down the grand hall of the Canterlot Palace.

The Sun Princess was standing with her back turned, facing one of the stained glass windows. She darted her eyes at the coming Twilight. The little purple unicorn stopped and lowered her head in exhaustion. Princess Celestia turned to her anxious student and noticed she had a book with her. She took the book from Twilight and started reading it. 

"You really love your history," said the Princess. 

"But is this true?" asked the student. "Could this be the reason that Sombra did all of this? I am not justifying his actions but it calls into order of these crystal ponies." 

"My sister and I are also from that era," interrupted Princess Celestia, "but I will read with you on this account. It is fortunate that you found a book of the Crystal Empires history"


Twilight and Princess Celestia started reading the notes. It told of the famed and mysterious past rulers of the Empire, The Crystal Monarchy.

After Discord's stone imprisonment, some of the ponies in the young and unformed Equestria went their distant ways.  The young, powerful sisters were trying to find their place within the world also.  They chose to help the world free itself from the remaining chaos, traversed the lands still in disarray. 


The former slaves within the chaotic King's gem mines migrated far, far north to rid themselves of anything magical and overbearing.  They put their skills to good use being earth ponies and miners, they were better adapted to the land than they're normal land cousins. The area the ponies chose for their new homeland was vast and cold. No trees, no rivers, just frozen land. Luckily, the settlers found caves. These caves had crystals that absorbed emotion and gave off warmth that could be used for building. 
After many years of working with these crystals, the mining ponies’ outer appearance became like that of the mineral.  Rare outsiders and visitors from other towns started to call them ‘Crystal Ponies’.


Without magic or flight, it took the settler’s decades, but over time they built a grand Empire founded on the beliefs of peace and education.  Their leaders were strong in body and in brain. The crystals ponies first Queen was a strong-willed and loving mare who took care of the youth in Discord’s mines. She birthed 3 colts, all but one of whom died. That last colt had a colt, whom married a beautiful mare of the fields. The field mare passed away in childbirth at a young age, leaving the King with a daughter – but not just any daughter.
This was one of the few fillies or colts who were truly born with the 'crystal' appearance. The citizens loved the Princess and dubbed her Quartzia, Rose De Crystal of the Crystal Empire, The Crystal Princess.

Unfortunately, like his wife before him, the King’s health started to fail at a relatively young age. 

The Princess would care for her father and help him to walk around their beautiful empire. The ponies became nervous about the monarch’s coming death – not for the passing away of such a valued member of the empire, but because the Princess was not like other ponies. Somewhere within the family of the Monarchy, they had Alicorn ancestry. The civilians knew that alicorns were the most powerful known type of pony with vast magic. 
She could not hide her wings or her long pointy horn. Quartzia grew among the ponies of the empire and they loved her as a filly. But as she grew, so did their fears.


Recorded accounts state that Quartzia Rose tried to treat her father’s pains. However, the nursemaids would send her away, fearing that her magic would hasten his death. The Palace guards walked far from her. The chefs would prepare too much food so that she would not ask them to cook within the Palace for days at a time.
The Alicorn Princess did so very much for her citizens. She opened the largest school known, raised funds for the library, and even helped in the fields during harvest. It was at one harvest when things went downhill for her even more.