//------------------------------// // Act 1 Chapter 4 - Crystal // Story: Passing of the Stars // by A SketchPad //------------------------------// The Season of Bloom Day 6 Year 4 B.E I don't need the power of memory that my companion is bestowing upon me at this moment. I remember this day so vividly, like a dream becoming lucid when realized. Memory Sparks and I left to visit The Facility after a nice morning breakfast of oatmeal and apples. We gazed around the environment for a while, seeing the crystal castle that I'm sure Umbra will have once he's claimed the throne that the Council is developing. We eventually stopped looking in the distance as we neared The Facility. Walking into the building, I walked toward the receptionist, a yellow mare with a sleek lavender mane that are pulled into pigtails. "Hello, Radiance. You don't come back in another two days, right?" She inquired. "I see the wound is almost disappearing. That's great to see you're almost in perfect health!" "Thank you, ma'am. Umm, my room is open today, right? I have something of research that needs to be investigated. I also brought along a companion of mine." I spoke. The tone of my voice, although authoritative, was soft and unwavering. She was an earth pony, which was a rarity when it comes to C.P.E.S.A., as most earth ponies are into farming lands and helping growth. In fact, you, Twilight Sparkle, already met her when you visited the Library. Her name, I believe, is Amethyst Maresbury. She has a lot of respect, from the foals to the superintendents, as she promotes growth in our young ones. "It's open today. The foals are located in a different room, much to your good fortune." She grinned. "I wish you two good luck in your endeavors." Nodding at the compliment, I introduced Memory Sparks around briefly as we walk toward the second floor stairs. As we trotted up, she looked around with curiosity. "This is also a school?" I nodded toward her and opened the doors to the second floor. "It is. It's the main building of the C.P.E.S.A., though we have at least three schools open to spread knowledge around." "Is it also for convenience to have three schools open, including this one?" "Yes, actually. That's...quite insightful of you." I was surprised that she said this. She's getting the hang of things now. I couldn't be any more proud in that moment. I opened the door to my room and smiled at the emptiness of it all. The desks were aligned perfectly in a 5 x 5 fashion, 25 chairs in all. The desks had books, parchment, and a stick of charcoal with a safety wrap on the end for the earth ponies and pegasus. "This is an amazing room." She complimented as she galloped around the room, looking at all the work that the foals have done. She saw the work papers stuck on a wall for the foals who have gotten high grades, remembering some of the work that she's done. "So many ways to work around these math problems. So many ways to look at literature...what's that word...interpret!" I grinned as I sat down at my desk. Her fascination on such things were adorable. I sat her down after she placed the Rainbow Heart in front of my desk. I placed a book on the desk and asked her to read to herself the contents of the literacy work. I took a history book out and took a gander at the facts about the Crystal Heart that resided at the castle. There were differences between the Crystal Heart and Rainbow Heart. The obvious difference being the colors. The Crystal Heart was more abstract in design, having sharper edges and shined significantly. The Rainbow Heart, however, had more edges to look more like a heart. The edges were hard, but was smooth that it wouldn't cut the hooves of a pony. The texture, though, was really sleek, like rubbing your hoof against glass, but not leaving any stains. "This is fascinating. I wonder..." I tried to pick it up with my magic, but the stone refused to budge along with my magic. "Ngh...what the...?" I was honestly surprised. I never seen such thing happen. Everything was possible with magic. Mountains could be lifted, if enough unicorns were there, but never an item such as this. "This gem is impossible to...wait!" I took the gem in my hooves and easily lifted it. I was baffled! I was able to carry it like a normal item, but I couldn't lift it with my magic. Memory Sparks looked at my predicament and got up from her seat. She trotted over to me as I struggled to lift the gem with all the magic I can muster. "C'mon, Radiance. You can do it." She tried to instill some confidence in me as I gritted my teeth. My horn began to glow significantly as I tried harder and harder to lift it up. I gasped and let go. "It's not moving. What the hay is this?" I was frustrated, but decided to jot down some notes on a scrap of paper. I hypothesized that the Rainbow Heart wasn't moving because the gem itself is a magical item. But that wouldn't make sense, as the Crystal Heart is also a magical item. So I scratched that out and came up with many other scenarios, only to scratch all of them out. "Maybe a unicorn enchanted it?" Memory's thoughts made me think for a moment. I've never heard of a unicorn enchanting an item back in those days. "That's impossible. No unicorn or anypony can enchant an item. It's an impossible feat." I said that with uncertainty. She gave me a look of disbelief and shook her head. "I thought unicorns could enchant things. They are magical, right?" "We are, but that kind of art is impossible. We would've known something about this." "Then why can't you lift up the darn thing?" "Because, pegasus, this thing..." I was at a loss for words. I tried to come up with a conclusion as to why the Rainbow Heart won't let me lift it. Memory smirked and turned away, her nose into the sky. I grew a little frustrated at the look. "I thought you were supposed to know everything. You unicorn magic-munchers are-" "Hey! I don't know everything, neither do my colleagues! We may have discovered a lot but, hay, I'm not the one with my head in the sky, literally!" "What?" Her nose was right up to mine as she continued to get angry. "I'm sorry you're stuck on the boring ground!" The string of insults we gave each other had an effect on the Rainbow Heart. It seemed sentient. It heard our fighting and decided to intervene. It floated up and caught Memory's gaze, making her stall in the middle of her yelling. I followed her eyes and saw the jewel shine brilliantly. The noise it created made my heart jump. It sounded like it would hurt us. I did what I thought was the best course of action and jumped toward Memory to block out whatever it was going to do. But when it shined brighter and it blasted magic toward us, I feared for my life. My eyes shut tightly and I tried to touch Memory Sparks, to at least know she was there with me. I fell on the ground and rushed to where I last saw her. Nothing. My voice was lost in my throat as I felt around. My eyes were a bit blurry when I opened them, looking at the ground. I was sure she was here. Expecting the worst, I weakly cried out her name. "Memory...please...say something. Tell me...tell me you're here..." "Awesome!" She yelled. I looked up and moved my hoof to my eyes before I were to be blinded. When my eyes adjusted, I put my hoof down and stared at her. She was...radiant, for lack of better words (Excuse my own pun). Her body became the paragon of what you imagine a crystal pony to be. Her whole form looked the part of a statue made out of garnets, for her body, along with a stylish mane made of topaz and sapphires. I looked down at my hooves and saw that I was made out of fluorite. Looking up at my mane, I saw topaz curls. Feeling my hooves, I felt soft, yet hard at the same time. It was indescribable. "No! No no no no no!" I muttered in rapid succession. I stared at the Rainbow Heart and picked it up, and with ease with my magic. I glared at the gem and slammed it on the desk. "You weren't supposed to do that! Whoever enchanted this, I hope they're happy!" It didn't make sense at all! The more answers I gained, the abundance of questions replaced those answers. What exactly was this Rainbow Heart?! "Radiance...chyehehehe...it's not that bad! I feel awesome with this kind of thing!" She flapped her wings and flew around. That disproved one of my thoughts. We still retained our normal functions when we had normal forms. But I could see through her. It's as if she didn't have any organs. My face held disbelief and I felt myself getting nauseous. "This is no time for such pleasantries! Something has happened to us and if other ponies see this, how will be explain this?! The variables of how society will view us! Oh sweet Celestia...oh no, I'm using that term." The world was ending for me at that moment. I wouldn't imagine myself to use that term. I fell on the ground and started to hold myself. Nothing was making sense at this point. Memory shook me, trying to break me out of my stupor. I couldn't understand her willingness to accept the fact that she's made out of crystals. She continued to shake me, trying to get me to come to reality. With nothing working, she flew out the window and flew toward the sixth quarter, leaving me to lay on the floor. I was mumbling like a mad pony, trying to come up with different conclusions to what has happened. Some pony from the future, maybe? No, nopony has that kind of power, right? I tried thinking of another way to explain the artifact's abilities to transform ponies. I couldn't find any conclusions at all. Everything seemed impossible to accomplish. The Rainbow Heart, at this point, was alien to me. A half hour have passed. The door slammed open, with Bene Umbra and Memory Sparks coming through. He suspected that I was hurt, but when he heard my mumbling and hushed ranting, he felt concern. He knelt down and put himself under my forelegs, carrying me up so I could stand. "Radiance, Memory told me everything and...this is a weird predicament that you've put yourself in." Umbra stared me down and looked at the Rainbow Heart that rested upon the table. "Crystal ponies...that actually sounds really amazing. I don't know how you two done it, but it reacted to the both of you." Memory harrumphed and turned away. "He's just mad because he can't figure out a way how it works." I ignored the comment, still trying to explain how the Rainbow Heart resisted my magic. I looked at it and brought it over with my magic. I tried to look for any abnormalities or scratches in its texture, but found nothing. It was a perfect gem. "There must be some kind of theory. Maybe some pony unlocked the full potential of unicorns. Some kind of new magic. Has to be!" Umbra added in his two bits. I began to process this information in my mind. "You mean whoever this pony is, they aren't from around here?" "Haha, you make it sound as if it came from some pony outside the Crystal Empire. The nearest kind of settlement is 100 miles away. That's to the Earth Pony capital. They wouldn't even give lodge to a unicorn, even if they had all money in the world. It would take at least two to three days from the nearest unicorn settlement to here." The more they talked about their own theories, I gasped. Remembering the day that I saved Memory Sparks from the three ponies, I created a bubble shield, weaving magical threads together to create a firm, compact shield that held strong, even from the harsh banging from the three of them. I didn't know how I created something like that, it came to me as I was focused on saving her. I went as far as to say that the feat felt natural. I walked out of the room and trotted to the library, unaware of Umbra and Memory Sparks following me. I looked around for anything related to magic and how to use it. Aisle through aisle, book by book, I was desperate to find something about the usage of magic. At least thirty minutes passed by and I was making a scene. Books were littered upon the floor, no doubt causing a lot of my colleagues a bit distress as they tried to calm me down. "There is nothing of use for my research!" I declared out loud. Memory Sparks and Bene Umbra flinched at my sudden anger. The light coming from the ceiling didn't do much as make me look like a holy being, causing the researchers and librarians to shudder in awe. "Memory, Umbra, we have discovered something new. Two things, to be exact!"