The Matrix of Friendship

by MrSp33dy123

5| The Archives

The Matrix of Friendship
Chapter 5- The Archives
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“What?” was Twilight’s response to Pinky’s ramblings.

“Oh, nevermind.”

“You were probably just imagining it. I mean, I never saw it.” Cadence decided that even Pinky Pie had no idea what she was talking about.

“Yeah, I hope so. Let’s just get over to the castle, shall we?”

The 3 friends continued down the street before arriving at the castle. The castle looked even bigger from right underneath it. Its massive structure cast a humongous shadow to all who stood below it. They walked past the crystal heart, floating and slowly rotating in mid-air in between two crystal spikes. Twilight got a good look at it.

You’re such a mystery, Crystal Heart.

Twilight chuckled at how she was talking to a gem. Albeit in her head.

They climbed a dozen flights of stairs before making it to the throne room of the castle. It was a large hall, made of quartz coloured crystals, and had a pink velvet carpet leading to the large throne made of various shades of purple crystal.

“Where’s Shining Armour?” Twilight was expecting him to be here.

“A while back he was sent to track down Starlight Glimmer. He’s been on her trail for a while now, but not much progress has been made.”

“Well I hope he catches her soon, she was really horrible to those poor ponies.” Twilight was rather disappointed that she wasn’t going to see her brother. She hadn’t seen her in ages and-

“THIS PLACE WOULD BE GREAT FOR A PARTY!” A party cannon appeared next to Pinky Pie, and she pulled a string attached to it. Confetti, streamers, and balloons shot out of it and showered the room, instantly making the throne room party-themed.

“Pinkkkyyyyyyyyyyyy!” Twilight didn’t have time for her antics. Plus, somebody would have to clean it up, later.

Cadence gave a small chuckle. “Yes, it would be great for parties, wouldn’t it, Twilight?” She gave Twilight a mischievous smile.

Twilight responded with a friendly punch to Cadence’s shoulder.

“Pinky, you can have a party in here if you want, unless you want to come up to the archives to read some books…”

Pinky was tempted by Cadence’s offer, but as Rainbow Dash said, ‘Friends stick together’.

“I’d love to, but I think that Twilight-“

“I don’t mind, Pinky. Go have fun, and make some ponies smile.”

Pinky Pie began to cry tears of joy. “Sniff…you have no idea how much this means to me!”

The doors to the throne room opened and a stream of parting ponies flowed in.

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And then there were two.

On each side of the room, were clear crystal shafts that extended into the roof. Twilight and Cadence walked into one, and with a short burst of magic from Cadence, the ground they were standing on started rising. An elevator--- a piece of technology only the crystal empire had. The world slowly slewed downwards as they stood still on the slab of crystal. Eventually, they came to a floor, and the slab slowed to a stop. The magical shield on the door dissipated and they stepped out into the Crystal Empire royal archives.

Cadence’s horn lit with a light blue aura as the archive’s turquoise crystal floor began to glow, enlightening the entire library evenly from below. The isles themselves were not that large, but they extended hundreds of feet into the air, into the darkness.

Twilight’s eyes were the size of small planets. “………….there………are no…………..words..……”

“These archives are the largest in Equestria. Even larger than Canterlot’s.”

Twilight stayed true to her words, staying absolutely silent, slowly dragging her eyes over the humongous expanse of books.

Cadence looked to Twilight, and smirked. “It gets better.”

Her horn lit up again, and one of the bookshelf sections began to move downward, with a deep ‘whoooosh’, giving access to the books higher up. Another section moved up, and then another. Slowly more and more sections joined in the movements, each adding to the constant noise of rushing air, before they all instantly came to a stop.

“What did you say you were looking for?” Cadence turned to twilight.

“….uh…..Origin of the C-Crystal Heart…….” Twilight was still mostly at a loss for words.

Cadence’s eyes shone white, obscuring her pupils. The bookshelf sections continued on their previous journey, moving in seemingly random ways. Cadence mumbled to herself as she spoke.

“Origin…Origin…Origin……of the Crystal Heart! Here!” The shelves ground to a halt, the lack of the sound leaving the building feeling empty.

Cadence walked over to one part of a shelf and pulled out the book she had been searching for, her eyes returning to normal.

History of Magical Gems, Volume 7- The Crystal Heart

One of the isle sections lowered itself completely into the ground, revealing a table and four chairs. The two sat down at the table next to each other, and Cadence placed the book down in front of Twilight using her magic. Twilight used her hoof to open the book to the index. She scanned through the list before coming to one marked ‘Creation’, turning to the corresponding page, page 6.

Twilight narrated as she read. “The Crystal Heart is the second most powerful magical gem known, after the combined elements of harmony. Its power is not controlled by a soul user, rather, it is controlled by the citizens of the crystal empire, only when the gem is positioned correctly below the castle.

Its powers are specific, but not limited in ability. Once activated, the Crystal Heart has the ability to repel any foreign objects of it’s choosing from the radius of the city, and nullify any foreign magic and energy. Additionally, it is required for the crystal empire’s citizens to stay happy and motivated, and as such, must be activated once a year in order to sustain them. The Crystal Heart works off the magic of love, as all of its abilities work off of it. Unlike the Elements of Harmony, it cannot be absorbed into a being, it must stay in its crystal structure.
Due to these factors, its origins are under heavy dispute, and nopony truly knows where it came from.” Twilight paused.

“…And that’s where it ends.”

Cadence still held a smile. Her horn once again lit up, and slowly, something began happening. Twilight couldn’t place it, though.

“But it’s where the next chapter begins.”

The section of the isle they were sitting on began to rise up at bake neck speed. There was no wind, yet the sound of rushing air was quite loud. Gradually, the light from the floor got weaker and weaker, until they were in pure darkness.

They stopped moving.

A crimson crystal began to glow, illuminating the large empty room they were now in. This crystal was large, towering from the bottom, to the top of the room, its light amply powerful to lighten the room.

The walls suddenly gave way to wooden bookshelves, full of books. Each, high quality leather bound in silk and accented with pure gold.

Cadence looked to Twilight, trying to be as dramatic as possible. “Welcome, to The Vault.”

She waited for Twilight’s response, but after taking one look at the lavender Alicorn’s face, decided she should probably elaborate.

“Up here, is a secret section of the library. All of these books here are not available to the public. Here, are the Crystal Empire’s most closely guarded secrets.”

“Oh my Celestia….”

Cadence smiled at Twilight’s ridiculous overreaction.

Well, actually, this is pretty amazing. I was rather surprised when I first saw it.

She used her magic to gather a new book from across the room, bringing it to the table. She used her hooves to pick up the book and show its cover to Twilight.

The book’s cover was crystal-a royal purple crystal, yet it was scratched, and worn. The pages, still only visible from their ends, were stained, and crumpled. Clearly, this book had been around for a long, long time. Engraved, above a picture of a blue love heart, were the words:

The Creation of the Crystal Empire

This time, Twilight’s eyes were the size of large planets.

Cadence turned the book back around, and opened it. She scanned through a few of the worn pages, before coming to one, and began reading.

“In the beginning, there was nothing. Where Equestria was to lay, was but a barren wasteland. Only three ponies walked the land. Thy three, were the two sisters, Celestia and Luna, and the father, Star Swirl the Bearded.”

Twilight interrupted. “WOAH WOAH WOAH. Star Swirl the Bearded was the princess’s FATHER?!”

“That is another story for another time, Twilight.”

“And where did they come from in the first place!? And how long ago was all this?! And why-“

Cadence placed a shoe'd hoof to Twlight’s muzzle gently. She released it, and Twilight was silent.

“Breathe, Twilight.” The two took in a large amount of air, before releasing it, all the while with a hoof to their chest.

Cadence continued.

“The Elements of Harmony existed ever since the beginning of time, and Star Swirl the Bearded was the first to wield them. He needed a land for his daughters to live in, and so he created a gem of infinite power, the Crystal Heart, with the Elements. It took one hundred moons to create the heart, and upon creation, the heart exploded in a shower of pink light, destroying Star Swirl’s laboratory. Star Swirl then placed the heart on the ground, and positioned the elements of harmony around it. They activated, sharing their power with the heart. It is said that Star Swirl then claimed the elements, walked back a hundred feet, and then turned to see the Crystal Empire rising out of the ground.”

“ooooooooohhhhhhmmyyyyyycelllestiaaaaaaaaa” Twilight was lost for words.

How come nobody asked anything like this? You’d think questions like these would come often, you know, ‘Where did the Crystal Empire come from?’ and ‘Who actually was Star Swirl the Bearded?’ and all that.

Twilight’s initial shock subsided, and then, something major occurred to her.

“The Elements of Harmony can’t do that.” Twilight was certain that they couldn’t do that.

Sure, they were powerful, but creating whole gems of infinite power and entire empires!?

“Well, they clearly managed. It’s not just this book that says that, too.”

“They can’t do that. I’ve used the Elements before. Celestia has, too. The most they can muster is repelling an enemy in some way.”

`“Maybe you don’t know how to.”

`“Maybe.” This whole ordeal really puzzled Twilight. The thought of such powers was mind-blowing. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted cadence recoiling from the book a little, before turning to her.

“It says here that Star Swirl the Bearded created the Tree of Harmony too…”

Twilight looked to Cadence. Her face perfectly conveyed the words, ‘Horse shit’.

All of a sudden, the room was filled with a loud bang, accompanied with a purple flash. The girl’s eyes quickly readjusted to find none-other than Shining Armour standing there.

“Cadence! Twily!”

“Shiny!” The two said in unison.

“Twilight, you must go. I have an urgent letter from Princess Luna.”

He used his magic to pull the royal letter out of his saddle-bag, levitating over into twilight’s hooves. She began to read, it was rather short. “Dearest Princess Twilight, you presence is immediately required in Ponyville, after a recent turn of events. Regards, Princess Luna… and that’s where it ends.”

The three looked between each other exchanging looks of worry, before twilight spoke. “I learnt a new teleportation spell recently, I can teleport great distances but it requires magic from other unicorns.”

Without another word, Cadence pointed her horn to Twilight, and a magical beam flowed between the two. Shining Armour soon joined in, and then finally, Twilight’s horn began to glow, but not in its usual purple, rather, a bright white light shone from its tip. Her pupils disappeared as her eyes started to glow, and a deep whir began to fill the room. A flash consumed Twilight instantly, teleporting her away, and causing a small vacuum to be quickly filled, in a small shockwave.

In a flash of light, and a displacement of air, Twilight was in her castle.

Author's Note:

10,000 words! Yay!
Here we go, what was originally supposed to be one 2,000 word chapter, has turned into three 3,000 word ones. Well, actually, there's one more to go.

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This chapter is shorter, mainly because I wanted to keep it very well polished. I have so many things going on, at the same time, that it can sometimes be a mess.

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PLOT TWIST CADENCE IS EEEEVILLLLLL

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Hope you all enjoy, and all that.
-Sp33dy