"So, who wants to learn a bit about the great history of magical crystals and how they are important for our society?" Edison Sparkwire clasped his hooves together, his eyes sparkling, gesturing grandly towards the glittering displays of crystals of all sizes, shapes and colours.
Rainbow Dash floated lazily behind, groaning theatrically as she rolled her eyes around. "History? Again? Learned all about that in school" she sighed, a mock yawn escaping her mouth. "Let me guess more shiny rocks that do big things and help us all live in harmony? blah blah blah"
Before Edison could respond to Rainbow Dash’s playful cynicism, a sudden gasp cut through the chatter. All eyes turned to Twilight Sparkle, who looked as if she’d just won the big lottery. Her cheeks puffed, her breathing fast and uneven, her eyes wide and open. She looked ready to burst from sheer excitement.
"Yes! Yes! Yes!" Twilight squealed, hopping up and down so vigorously she seemed on the verge of achieving lift off. "Oh, sweet Celestia! A real, live crystal history exhibit! I can write three, NO! Five! five new chapters for my book on Magical Elements of Equestria with just what's in this room!"
Tesla Coil watched, a bemused weak smile on his face, as Twilight’s hooves vibrated on the spot. Edison, ever the showpony with a midland accent, leaned in with a wink. "Well, Mis Twilight, I promise you, this isn’t just any history lesson. We managed to collect all types of Crystals from all across the world under this one single roof. Even the most rare ones”
Twilight’s eyes widened to the size of a diner plate. "Really?" she gasped, momentarily breathless, then dove into a rapid barrage of questions.
"What’s the rarest crystal you have?
Did any of them come from the far lands?
What do you think of the shrinking crystal deposits? Can they really…"
Rarity gently nudged Twilight, trying to calm her friend's frenetic energy. "Darling, maybe take a breath? We wouldn’t want you fainting from excitement before we even see the first exhibit. We still have time and if you would like, we can visit the exhibition after the ceremony, is that right Mr Edison?” Rarity pursed out her lips.
To the amusement of Tesla Coil, his companion blushed heavily further making his chubby cheeks appear more like fully grown tomatoes. “Of course! And please call me Sparkwire” he said with a filly-like giggle, forcing Tesla Coil to suppress his laughter further from the back of the group.
Pinkie Pie bounced alongside them, her grin as wide as ever. "Ooh, if Twilight faints, do we get to catch her? I always wanted to try a dramatic rescue! Or we can have a party! A faint party! Who faints first wins a cake!"
With a faint cough from behind the group, Tesla Coil brought the attention to him. "Well, as Miss Rarity said, we indeed have some time, but not a lot, there are quite a few unique pieces in our collection that I believe everyone will find fascinating, but first let us dive a little bit back into the history of the tribes that formed Equestria as a single kingdom” Making his way from Princess Luna's side he walked up to the first exhibition featuring a large glass display with several worn-down crystals and tools to accompany them. Looking up at the group with his silver eyes, making sure he got all of their attention he began with his deep calm voice “As you might know those crystals in front of you have many names: ‘Tools of Harmony’, ‘the souls of magic’ and most commonly the ‘Magical Crystals’ ”. With a single move of his wing, he carefully lifted the glass cover of the display featuring a single cyan crystal bracelet. Delicately crafted, its cyan crystal centrepiece glimmering faintly in the subdued lighting, Despite the old and noticeably worn cloth, the fabric of the tie was aged but still held vibrant traces of its original colours. “This here is one of the oldest exhibits, this weather bracelet was passed down to me by my ancestors for almost over a thousand years”
Tesla Coil's charcoal-coloured wing gently hovered over the bracelet "It was used by Pegasi to adjust weather patterns over large areas, of course in today's modern day we have the Cloudsdale Weather Factory to thank for our weather, but before our ancestors used Magical Crystals to do attract water vapor in the air and form them. Some of our research shows that clouds back them were easier to form and made the process of controlling the weather significantly easier for the pegasi”
Rarity, ever the connoisseur of fine things, couldn't help but admire the craftsmanship. "Oh, it's absolutely exquisite Mr Tesla" she exclaimed, her eyes reflecting the faint glimmer of the cyan crystal. "A thousand years and even back then ponies had taste in fashion.”
Applejack, who had been listening intently, chimed in with a thoughtful tilt of her hat. "Well now, if I remember my history right, Princess Celestia and Luna have been around for more than a thousand years themselves” With a small nod to Princess Luna she continued “Princess, you reckon this old method was more effective than what we got today with all our fancy tech at Cloudsdale?”.
Princess Luna, caught off-guard, felt a flicker of panic beneath her calm exterior. Her features tensed up with her pupils shrinking down to the size of buttons and briefly flickered between all the staring ponies. Applejack and Pinky Pie were especially watching her closely with wide smiles.
As Cadence was about to mention something after what felt like ages Tesla Coil, sensing the subtle shift in her demeanor, stepped in smoothly. "Actually, Mis Applejack, we've discussed these very findings with Princess Celestia when we first proposed to build this facility" he explained with a glance towards the crowd "Our research has shown that using a large group of these weather-manipulation crystals could potentially increase the speed of cloud formation by over 60%. It's a significant improvement that could allow for easier weather management"
Moving back to Princess Luna, with a reassuring smile he provided an easy question for her to handle “Wouldnt you agree princess?”.With a small repeated glance she looked at the crystal closer and whispered just enough for most to hear “Yes we- I remember, such tools were indeed instrumental and performed well in weather control”
“…and with increased support from the crown that's just the beginning, “ Edison Picked up from where his colleague had finished of with a wide smile. With a small flash from his horn, a dim green crystal appeared before Applejack. “Mis Applejack, do you know what this crystal does?” he questioned dropping it in her hoof with his magic. Applejack didn't take no time to answer “Well mister I've seen this before, my granny Smith always called them ‘Growy stones’ , but we could never get them for a landed price” , lifting up the crystal with his magic , Edison motioned the group to follow them while he responded in his show pony manner, making his voice loud and clear. “Exactly! This is indeed a ‘Growy stone’ as some earth pony farmers used to call them, to be exact a harvest crystal is more known among academics such as myself. Crystals form from the magic inherent in Equestria’s very soil and air. Over centuries, this magic condenses and crystallizes into forms such as this fine example…”
“The issue is…” Tesla said passing by many exhibitions with a variety of magical crystals , approaching two large metallic doors with ‘Employees Only sign in vibrant yellow’ alongside Edison “...is that Crystals have a limited amount of magic, the smaller the crystal the less it has, therefore if before our ancestors had the ability to use them carefree our generation and the one after us might see them only in displays in museums”. With a knock on the door, two security ponies opened an entrance deeper into the facility.
“Deciding to escape this fate Edison and I , alongside several of our colleagues set on a project after receiving a large investment from the crown, to create this….”