The Light Kingdom

by Rakoon1

The Mirrored Library

After Heartbeat had recovered her star seed, the group returned to the Crystal Empire. Near the entrance of the Empire, hidden, was Fire Punch. Then, in the distance, he saw Twilight and the others returning. He looked to Heartbeat and, using a magic the Lord of Chaos had taught him, he saw that she had her light back. She already had her star seed. As he had been commanded, he invoked his master. A darkness appeared, as well as the Lord of Chaos’ eyes.

"It is better you have good news to me, Fire Punch" the Lord of Chaos said.

"You asked me to let you know if our friends obtain the red star seed" Fire Punch said. "They are returning now to the Crystal Empire and the General of Affection has her light back."

The Lord of Chaos looked to the group that approached the Crystal Empire and then giggled, saying afterwards:

"Perfect. This is just what I needed. It's time for the next step."

It was then that he launched from his eyes a shade that, invisible and silent, advanced to the group and settled in their shadows.

"Now, the tide of their luck is about to change" the Lord of Chaos said. "I will get the others star seeds and then Heartbeat’s and then I will be able to find the original star seed and, when I'm done with its light, this world will fall on my total dominance."

And gave one of his evil and cold laughter.

The group arrived at the castle and entered in the throne room, where Cadance was with Gleaming.

"So, how'd it go?" Cadance asked.

"Apart from a couple of trees that tried to crush us, everything went fine" Shining replied, approaching Cadance and giving her a kiss.

"We were able to retrieve the star seed and the true Heartbeat" Twilight said. "Right, Heartbeat?"

Then she noticed that Heartbeat was ahead of Gleaming Shield’s crib to make her laugh again. It seemed that she hadn't heard anything.

"Heartbeat!" Twilight called.

"Yes?" she asked, turning around and seeing everypony staring at her. "I'm sorry, I can't resist a baby."

"Ya said ya'd give us answers and now ya have tah keep yer promise" Applejack said.

"Always so honest" Heartbeat said. "That’s so annoying."

But when she received rough looks from everypony, she said:

"Very well, I’ll answer to anything you want. What do you want to know?"

"Well, first of all, how didn’t you turned to stone along with the other Generals and the light ponies?" Twilight asked.

"But, I turned to stone" Heartbeat replied. "Actually, there’s no worse feeling than that. Having our star seed removed, having our own essence removed... It's something you don't want to anypony. I was in darkness for so many centuries, shrouded in cold, in solitude... Until a light appeared and freed me from my stone prison. I didn't have my star seed, but even so I was free. Well, it's free so to speak. Without my star seed, I became... intuitive. A child, as I'm always, but without my awareness. However, I had a thought. A mental order, if you want to call it so: continuing my work. But I had to do it unconsciously and, how it’s law between the Generals, discreetly."

"That’s why nopony, not even Celestia and Luna, have been suspicious of your return" Twilight noted.

"And what does that have to do with the fact that you know so much about me and Cadance?" Shining asked.

"I thought you had already reached that conclusion, silly billy" Heartbeat replied, childishly. "I might have been walking around with no conscience or anything, but I still remember everything I did. Do you really think that you meet Cadance and you two fell in love for each other by coincidence?"

"Wait..." Cadance said. "That was you?"

Heartbeat did a smile and waved, saying afterwards:

"My intuition, which was what was dominating my body, knew you guys would be perfect to each other, so I made a succession of events that allowed you to meet each other in that moment, in that place and I even gave a little push. But don't just think it was all decided on top of the knee. I mean, I wouldn't have done it if you were not perfect to each other. Also I admit that I was the one who raised Twilight’s suspicion during Shining and Cadance’s wedding. All for your sake, of course."

There was a pause and then Blue asked:

"And me and Twilight?"

"Oh, that wasn't me" Heartbeat answered. "I mean, it was me, but no me."

Seeing the confusing air of everypony, she stated:

"It was my star seed. As well the feelings that you two had and have for each other. I mean, the Oasis of the Heart just had and still has, thanks to me, the ability to reach the ponies’ heart thanks to my star seed. But that thing at your wedding… That was my person."

"What are you talking about?" Twilight asked.

"When Dark Hole stole all the love you had, I used my magic to transfer part of the love Blue had for you and so I could restore yours" Heartbeat replied. "How do you think Celestia and Luna saw me, sending Blue to the Light Kingdom?"

That revelation left Twilight and Blue atonic.

"You see, I was present in all great moments in every major couples, always using my empathy for such" Heartbeat continued. "I'm more powerful than you can process and I spent just over two decades enslaved by my unconsciousness. Thank you for helping me find my star seed."

But no one answer that grateful, even don’t believing what she had said. The first to react was Rainbow Dash that asked:

"I bet you’ll tell us where are the other star seeds, won’t you?"

"No, I don’t know where are my brothers and sisters’ star seeds" Heartbeat replied. "But we can find out in no time. There's a place that can give us this same information."

"What place?" Rarity asked.

"It’s easier and more preferable to show it to you than talk about it" Heartbeat replied.

"Great" Applejack said. "So show us the way."

"With pleasure" Heartbeat replied. "Except for Cadance, because within seconds Gleaming will need to be changed."

"What do you mean?" Cadance asked. "Gleaming..."

"Three, two, one..." Heartbeat counted.

And then a stinky smell filled the air, making everypony twist the nose.

"Oh, I know this smell of anywhere" Pinkie Pie said.

“Well, that was creepy” Rainbow Dash commented.

"It looks like our little princess really needs to be changed" Cadance said, addressing to Gleaming.

"Well, I’ll stay with you" Shining said.

"That's really sweet, but we won’t leave the castle" Heartbeat said. "You can perfectly go with us. Cadance, when you're done, come meet us at the room where that magic mirror which can make ponies go to other worlds is."

She turned to the others and asked:

"Shall we?"

And then she headed to the exit of the throne room, with the others, including Shining, following her. They went into the room where the mirror that took Twilight to another world and that allowed Cherry communicate with her family and friends in her world was.

"Okay, wait, how the mirror will help us enter this place that contains the location of the other star seeds?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Patience" Heartbeat responded, moving towards the mirror. "Patience is a virtue."

Then Heartbeat carried her horn with magic and then she entered it in the mirror surface, sanking as if it were water and then turned it off then. It was then that the mirror has become a bright portal (what fascinated Pinkie Pie).

"Here it is" said Heartbeat, invoking her teddy bear. "This portal can be invoked in any mirrors, but my siblings and I are the only ones who knows the spell. And Mr. Teddy will be our guard."

"Wait, you're going to put that thing guarding de mirror?" Rainbow Dash asked, starting to laugh. "Yes, because he scares anypony."

It was then that Mr. Teddy came alive and became a small bear, but fierce, and launched himself against Rainbow Dash and started to attack her, making her scream and moan what made the others tremble by surprise. Heartbeat smiled and called:

"Mr. Teddy!"

Mr. Teddy, who was on top of Rainbow Dash, who was lying on the floor, pulling her hindlegs back behind her, stopped and returned to Heartbeat, returning to his previous form, but keeping alive.

"Never insult Mr. Teddy" she advised Rainbow Dash. "He's very sensitive."

"Are you okay, Rainbow Dash?" Fluttershy asked, very worried.

"Give me a couple of seconds" she replied, retrieving from the beating Mr. Teddy had just given to her.

"Well, we better get going" Heartbeat said, putting Mr. Teddy at the edge of the mirror. "Mr. Teddy, you stay on guard. Only Princess Cadance can enter. And if she brings the baby, it’s better."

Mr. Teddy waved, making her a salute.

"I had no idea that your bear was alive" Blue said to Heartbeat.

"All my toys are alive" she replied. "Part of the magic that I use to create them are in them. Well, anyway, let's move. Foals first."

And then she went through the portal of the mirror. The others exchanged a look, before they go through it too. When they reached the other side, they couldn't believe what they were seeing. They were in a vast library, so large that it seemed to have no end. All of it was made of bright and blue polished metal and there were several mirrors scattered everywhere. The cabinets were giants and they contained a lot of books, all of different shapes and sizes. The books were so many that weren't even shelving for a vast amount of them, what made them be placed in piles. Everyone gasped, but Twilight was who gaped more.

"I can't believe" she said, looking at all sides. "This is... There’re no words."

"Twilight, control yourself" Shining said. "Remember why we're here."

"Yes, you're right" she replied. "But this... This is amazing!"

"Ah think Twilight is ‘bout tah have a stroke" Applejack joked with Rainbow Dash making a slight chuckle.

"This is the Mirrored Library" Heartbeat said. "This is where all the information about all creation is stored. Or, at least, most of it. Anything that is created or destroyed, molded or remolded... everything is registered here. This is the library of all the Generals of Order, in addition to those that exist in your world."

"So there are more Generals?" Blue asked.

"There are a few more" Heartbeat said. "After all, we represent all the Lord of Order’s power. But I and my petrified siblings were chosen to go to your world to create the Light Kingdom."

She later went to a pile of books that was nearby and pass her hoof through the top of it, releasing a lot of dust, saying:

"It is clear that since Mirror Coat was suddenly removed from service, the library had become quite disorganized."

"Who?" Rarity asked.

"The General of Knowledge" Blue clarified. "I saw him in the castle of the Light Kingdom."

"Yes, he is the librarian of the library and is responsible for storing and organizing all information that arrives here, which is quite a lot" Heartbeat said. "And I'm talking about the one that arrives per day. That's why he's not my favorite brother. He is all work and no play."

"But it must be amazing live in the middle of all this" Twilight said, still delighted with the amount of books that the library had.

"If organizing books in all the various sections is incredible, so it must be" Heartbeat joked.

"How many sections there are here?" Twilight asked, full of curiosity.

"Well, there is Literature, obviously, where there are all the tales that were created; History, where are registered all the great events; Science and Magic, where are all the records of the functioning of nature, the spells that were created, their mode of operation, etc.; the musical record of all songs and melodies ever created; a section for all the art works… there are also genealogical records of all creatures that exist. Anyway... I don't even know the names of all the sections. But let’s go on to more important things.

"So wait for me" Cadance said, arriving.

"Cadance, we glad you're here" Shining said, going to her. "Where's Gleaming?"

"I left her with a maid" Cadance said. "Don't worry. By the way, Heartbeat, that teddy bear of yours is really cute."

"That's because you haven't seen the bad side of him" Rainbow Dash mumbled to herself, massaging her sore parts.

They then advanced through the library, with Twilight admiring each glimpse. They could see several books flying and resting in huge piles of books which, inexplicably, didn’t fall. Then appeared what seemed to be the center of the library. In the middle, there was a bowl-shaped structure attached to a stone pillar.

"This is what will help us locate the star seeds" Heartbeat said. "Watch this."

She charged her horn with magic and then she released it to the bowl which began to shine and launched a light, forming a globe of the planet where Equestria was. This globe was too large. It made everypony amazed.

"This bowl can show and locate all the Lord of Order’s creations" Heartbeat explained. "Thus, we can find all the star seeds."

"That's amazing!" Twilight exclaimed.

"Yes, it will save us the trouble of finding them" Rarity said.

"What are you waiting for?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Let's find them."

Heartbeat seemed a little uncomfortable with Rainbow’s rush because she gave her a sharp look, but she then turned to the globe making her horn shine with her aura, while saying:

"Well, the star seeds of the the General of Order of the Light Kingdom fell all in Equestria therefore we’ll limit our map."

And then the globe became a planisphere of Equestria.

"Now, the location of the Generals’ star seeds will come… now."

And then six points appeared. A red point was in the Crystal Empire. That point was certainly Heartbeat’s location. There was also an orange point near Vanhoover, a green point in the middle of Hollow Shades, a purple point in Hayseed Swamps, a light blue point in Rambling Rock Ridge and a yellow point in the great mountain of San Palomino Desert.

"Here they are" Heartbeat said.

"So the other star seeds are there" Twilight said. "Well, at least we know where they are."

"Yes, but the problem is that they are very far apart from each other" Shining said.

"Yes, and if Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are right about the Evil wanting at all costs the Light Kingdom, our timing has to be the best possible" Blue said.

"Hey, take it easy, anyway only we know the star seeds’ location, right?" Rainbow Dash asked.

But what Rainbow Dash didn't know was that the Lord of Chaos was seeing precisely what they were seeing.

"You're so wrong, my dear" he said. "I also know that. And all thanks to the spell I cast to your shadows to show me everything you see. The spell has a temporary effect, but I knew Heartbeat would lead you to the Mirrored Library once you got her back her star seed. That General’s behavior is so childish that she is as predictable as a foal. Now, I know the exact location of the other star seeds."

And having said this, he gave a new laugh. Then he turned to Fire Punch and said:

"Make sure you bring me the star seeds. I don't care if you bring me all of them. But bring me at least two. If you do that, I’ll try to find a way to get the others."

"Yes, my master" Fire Punch answered, bowing.

"Go on, we have no time to lose" the Lord of Chaos ordered. "I will give you the locations telepathically. As Prince Blue Sword said, our timing has to be the best possible."

And having said this, he gave a laugh, while Fire Punch made a last bow and turned into shadow, moving away to fulfill the mission that had been assigned to him.

Comments

[SageBrony07]

NO. I hope they can retrieve the Star seeds in time. I wonder if they get the other seeds, will the other generals free themselves from stone or not? Great chapter.

[Thing56]

Did I miss the blue one or is there only 5 on the map?

[Rakoon1]

10828963
The blue one is there. See above Dodge Junction.

[Thing56]

10830753
Wow that is an stupidly light blue!