A Quest for Knowledge

The city of Canterlot was busy as always. Whether it was the nobleponies’ regal parties, the fashion shows, or the local donut shop, the city bustled with activity like a proper Equestrian capital. Among them was a mare with a dark grey coat, with white markings, a maroon mane and upon the base of her tail she had a golden bobble. She had purple eyes and a backpack strapped on as she trotted towards the Canterlot libraries.

For Selune Darkeye, discovery was many things. It was both fun and serious, a job and a leisure. It was also a means to an end, to reach her idol Princess Luna and catch a bit of her attention. The latter had returned to Equestria only a year and a half ago, and as per her request to re-acclimate with current and old affairs she had requested a re-organisation of all documented events, both before and after her “leave of absence” as she mentioned. For that reason Selune couldn’t be late. Working as an archivist, Selune was tasked with collecting and organizing the history of Equestria. Now, this might seem like a tedious job, but when archives are lost, scattered, and deformed it could do even more than alienate a princess from the affairs of the world. Falsification of history for personal gain was not uncommon and fiery debates stormed the universities of Canterlot at times. Careful investigation had to be done so that the thestrals, the ponies accompanying the Princess of the Night, would not be confused with the pegasi. Or the Zebras with the tropical tribes of Earth Ponies in the jungles.

Some of the records of history were destroyed in  times of great conflict. Like the time before the sisters, back when the three tribes were separate, back when the windigos attacked. Or even the time when Discord the spirit of Chaos decided to turn Equestria into his own personal playground.

As Selune crossed the guarded gates and entered the book-filled hallways and corridors of the archives, she looked at  the morning sun that was in the sky: it was about time she started her work. She was tasked with sorting out diplomatic documents, some of which were centuries old. She didn’t know that Equestria had been the center of so many peace talks, and conflicts. Was it the magic? The fertile land? The hospitality? Perhaps it was just that she was in Canterlot and not Griffonia, or any other country. She imagined there would be a lot more to talk about outside Equestria. It wasn’t often that she encountered symbols, and emblems that she didn’t know of. Apparently many of the foreign leaders liked to occasionally change the marks of their countries, putting their own touch in them, wanting to leave their mark on history. To Selune it was nothing more than petty arrogance, but she had to admit that some of them had style. Sometimes the change of time required a change of appearances, and when an emblem representing a country changed it could mean that the country itself was entering a new era.

This night while Selune was working, she found one that was very interesting. It depicted two female pony heads, one pegasi, one unicorn, connected with their necks forming an S- shaped emblem. The unicorn on the bottom had a serious expression. She had a grey mane and black coat, with red eyes. While  on the other hoof the pegasus had a gentler appearance of a grey coated pony with a blonde mane and green eyes. The record itself was about someone named “Queen Metis”, who in the name of the Kingdom of the “Proteans” swore to uphold peace and maintain trade with the Earth Pony tribes in the southeast. Strange… Selune had never heard of “Proteans,” let alone this Queen. Was it some mix of pegasi and unicorns living together? If that was true then it could change the way they viewed the events of Hearth’s Warming Eve. She looked out for clues about this Kingdom but found none. There were no other mentions of said kingdom in any other documents.  Nor did the unicorns or the pegasi have any records of the Kingdom in their maps, let alone recorded dealings with them. Whatever this kingdom was it seemed its inhabitants were either too far out of reach for the Equestrians to communicate, or they were very reclusive.

There weren’t any records of exiles either. If this was a group of pegasi and unicorns there would be records of some sort of split, some schism between the two groups, or some sort of immigration, but nothing suggested it. Could it be that this was an entirely different species? One that perhaps shared pegasus and unicorn traits? There were no alicorn documents of someone named “Queen Metis” so that was out of the question. If it was a different species, why was it not noticed? What happened to them? Why were there no other documents of their existence? As always, each apparent discovery raised more questions than it answered. She looked at the document a little bit closer. The meeting apparently had been conducted near Dodge Junction, which now consisted of the Hayseed swamps and the Badlands. Few ponies dared to tread there, for the land harbored dragons, and the fires of the beasts scared even the mightiest of ponies. There were of course times the dragons were more… “civilized”. Records spoke of a creature that bore the title “Overlord” that ruled the dragons with an iron claw, one that had bridled and tamed their savage nature. Myth, legend, or truth, it was one more reason why these lands were not trespassed easily.

There had to be more information that could tell her  where to search. It was around then that she looked at the tags of the records, which cited where they were found. “Equestrian Diarchy Archives”, but those were far too old to be of this era. Besides the term “Equestrian Diarchy” had only been recently used when the Princess of the Night had returned. It was unlikely that this… the realization hit her. Of course this wasn’t the current time… it was from the time before Nightmare Moon! The time when the sisters ruled together in the past. These records were collected from the Old Castle ruins in the Everfree forest! If any more information was to be found about this strange new race, then it would be there!

Selune lifted a piece of paper and a quil. She whistled and as she did a black raven came through the window and landed on her shoulder, answering her call.

“Thanks for coming Akane… now listen up…” she said as her horn glowed, scribbling a message to the Princess of the Night. She was requesting permission to travel to the Old Palace, as well as reporting her findings. She folded the paper and, using some a red ribbon, she folded it together, wrapping it around the raven’s claws. Akane bit Selune’s nose lightly as a gesture of affection, to which she responded with a giggle. Coughing to return herself to the seriousness of the situation, she spoke once again to her animal companion.

“Take this to the Princess. Then come home as soon as possible… I have to get ready and collect supplies. This is going to be a long trip.”