The fireplace lit the oak room in a soft orange glow, smoke slowly rising out through the chimney as it puffed out into the chilly night air. Luna's full moon lit the oak tree library in a soft blue luminescent light. An old unicorn with a dull blue coat, and a faded purple mane that grew grayer each and every day. He scampered around the library, grabbing piles of paper from one room to another. He hastily trotted over to the fire and threw the papers into the fireplace, watching them burn as he did so. It pained his heart to throw away his research like that, but that pain was filled with a sense of satisfaction as he saw the final paper turn to ash. It's final sentence lasted for but a moment in the fire, but was clearly read through the blazing flames. Research on The Elements of Harmony. He let out a tired sigh, as he slowly walked over to the lone chair next to the fire place. He laid himself down onto the soft cushion, as he relaxed himself and waited for their arrival. The time slowly passed as he lay there motionless. Suddenly the royal guard charged in and surrounded him. One of the guards stepped forward, and began to address him. "Shining Eye, you have been accused of conspiring against the crown. Punishment for such a crime would usually mean a lifetime sentence in prison, but by order of Princess Celestia, you are to be executed on sight. Any last words?" he said, as he pointed his sword at the old unicorn. Shining eye looked up at him, and gave a short reply. "The only thing I have to fear is the Elements, for they make death a mercy."
Twilight Sparkle quietly sat alone in the middle of the library, her eyes gazed over the old book on the table as she read it's contents with extreme curiosity. She was originally just going to check the castle of the two pony sisters to see if it was damaged after Tirek's attack earlier this morning, but found herself looking through all the shelves in the castle's libraries. She found a book there by the name of operationes elementatorum by a Sir Shining Eye. The name peaked her curiosity, so she brought it home to read.
"I wonder why it was left in the old library?" She thought to herself as she scanned over the pages with her magic. She slowly turned the book back to the first page.
Research of the Elements, entry one.
I find myself curious of the Elements of Harmony. They show us near limitless power, and are based on the mindset and personality of the bearer(s). This is why I have been granted funding. To scientifically observe and experiment with the Elements.
Research of the Elements, entry two.
Research has been going slowly, as no actual usage of the Elements of Harmony has occurred. However, there is some new information that we have. The Elements produce a field of influence around themselves. This means (for example) that if you are near the Element of Honesty, you are more likely to speak the truth. This does not mean that you can never lie, but it does make it harder to.
We have questioned the Princesses about this, and they have both said that they feel as if they embody the Elements more when using them. This is very interesting, but is not the only magical anomaly that we have seen. Though this is more of a rumor, at least two of the scientist working for me have reported feeling cold and off when near the Elements, though these scientist are of Earth pony or pegasus descent, so their interactions with the Elements are taken lightly. If anything they are probably afraid to be messing with such powerful artifacts, but I can assure them that there is nothing to fear.
Twilight's eyes looked away from the pages as she heard the wooden doors creak. She turned her gaze over to the tall wooden doors, but found them to be the same as the last time she saw them. Her gaze still looked at the door, while her muscles remained tense, but she slowly turned herself back towards the book she was reading.
Research of the Elements, entry three.
A couple of days ago, a new report came in saying that the Crystal Empire mysteriously vanished a few hours after Princess Celestia and Luna went deep into the Crystal Tower. Princess Luna and Celestia made it out safely, however when asked a few simple questions about what happened, both sisters gave my interrogation crew... 'slightly' different answers. Luna reported that the Elements successfully banished Sombra, however banished the Crystal Empire with him, while her older sister reported that the Elements failed, and that he had cursed the the Crystal Empire. These strange reports could be brushed off as battle stress, however I have a feeling that stress doesn't make someone as old as Luna or Celestia forget crucial details like that. In addition, their has been no unicorn or alicorn with enough power to banish an entire empire, leading me to believe Luna's side of the story in comparison to Celestia's. I cannot confirm my opinion with the current evidence, but after these tragic events, I do believe that we should work even harder to discover how the Elements work, especially on the mind.
Research of the Elements, entry four.
Last night, Princess Luna tried to take over Equestria and send it into eternal darkness. I can't believe she would do something like that for a simple lack of affection. She knew several people entrusted her with their safety in the night, but now... This event has led me to believe that Luna had something happen to her. I don't know what, but her betrayal was not of her own accord. Maybe Sombra managed to get into her head back in the Crystal Empire, or maybe it has something to do with the Elements, but I suppose we will never know why. Speaking of the Elements, Princess Celestia has cut our funding, saying that the Elements have had enough experimentation done on them. I thought she might do something like that. After all, Princess Luna was the one that kept funding our research, saying that she needed answers. Most of the facility has been abandoned, and I too will be leaving, but I will continue my research. I will find answers.
Twilight closed the small journal, as she let out a tired sigh. She was now more confused. What we're the Elements? And where is the rest of the research he spoke of in the final entry? She looked through the book one more time, before picking it up with her magic to place it on a shelf in her library. While she was walking, she accidentally slammed into one of the tables in her new crystal castle, causing her to drop the book and for the spine to be torn.
"Oh no!" She said, as she quickly brought the book back up in her magic, before seeing a small piece of paper on the floor. She picked it up with her magic and unfolded it to read a short letter.
To anyone who is reading this- this will be my final letter, as Celestia's guards will have found me. I will have burned all information, and will be taking it to my grave, so that she may...
Twilight skimmed over the piece of paper one more time, before looking back to the book she had in her magic. She wondered why the author would put a letter like that in the spine of the book, only to inform them that the information was destroyed? So they wouldn't go looking for it? And also, why hide it if it was meant to tell the reader that the information was destroyed, wouldn't that defeat the purpose of keeping the reader from searching for it? She looked at the note with her eyes squinted, and hoof rubbing across her chin. She read the note several more times, before finally sighing. Maybe he was just crazy.
So she threw the note into a a trash can, before walking over to the library door and opening it.
"To anyone who is reading this- this will be my final letter, as Celestia's guards will have found me. I will have burned all information, and will be taking it to my grave..." She stopped, as her eyes widened in realization. Could it be?...
"To his grave."
She suddenly spun around, and began to look through her massive collection of records.
"There it is!" She exclaimed as she pulled a massive worn book off the shelves. She laid it down on the table, and began scrolling through it until she found the page she needed. "Shining Eye, born in 68 B.B. Died on 3 A.B. Was buried in the Canterlot cemetary, but was originally suppose to be buried under the... *Gasp* Golden Oaks Library!"
She dropped the book, and ran out of the library, grabbed a shovel, and ran out the door. She ran through the town, as the sun began to set. She dodged several ponies, all heading in for the night, before she reached the remains of her old home. She stayed still for a moment, looking at the rubble that used to be her old library, but suddenly tensed up and began to look around. She turned her head left and right, looking around for something. She didn't know why she was, but she slowly calmed herself, however before she set off to digging, she saw a pony off in the distance, right behind the setting sun. She would've shrugged it off, but the pony was covered in it's own shadow, and appeared to be looking at her, but when the sun disappeared under the horizon, it to disappeared.
She stayed there looking at the place where that pony once was, before she turned around and began to weave a spell. Her eyes began to glow as she looked down at the ground. She walked around the ash and rubble, until she stopped and began to dig. She dug quickly as she looked around herself with worry. She felt as if she was being watched. As she was digging, she hit something hard with her shovel. She pulled it out with some effort, before looking down into the ditch she made.
Inside it was a wooden box with chains wrapped around it. It laid in the hole with not a single sign of decay. She lifted the box out with her magic and undid the chains around it, before opening the box to find a letter. She took the letter in her magic, and looked it over to see the seal of the Lunar Princess. She peeled off the seal, and unrolled the scroll.
Dear, Shining Eye
If this has reached you, then my attempt at stopping my sister has failed. I write this, in the hopes that you will understand why I did this. The Elements are not a force of good, but a power that wishes to control all. It began to corrupt us the moment we began to use it, but was less effective on me as I was originally a pegasus. I came to this conclusion after reading your second entry. If only I could say the same for my sister. I believe she was corrupted during the events of the Crystal Empire. I tried to destroy the Tree of Harmony but my power is dwarfed in comparison to the elements, leaving me with one choice... defeat my sister. As i said before, this letter means that I have lost that battle. So i ask you, do anything in your power to destroy the Tree of Harmony! My sister will most likely shut down your research and hunt you down, you must not get caught. May Faust protect you.
Princess Luna
Twilight looked at the letter, her eyes dilated, and her breaths shaky. She looked around her with the utmost fear at what she had discovered. Suddenly, she saw a black ghost like figure come out of the ground. It's fore hooves were like black fire, as it's back faded out like a windigoes. In fact, it looked just like a windigoe, only black. She spun around to try and run away, but found there were more of them spawning around her. So with a fluent movement, she opened her wings and flew off towards the castle. She flew as fast as she could, her heart pumping as if it were to explode. She turned her head to see those black creatures following her. She quickly landed, and blew the doors open, before rushing inside, and closing them on the black creatures.
"Spike! Spike! Where are you?!?!" She cried, but to no avail as no one cried back. So with shaky hooves she walked closer to Spike's bedroom. "Spike?" She spoke softly, as she opened the door. But instead of finding Spike, she found Princess Luna. "Luna!" She cried out, as she rushed over to the Lunar Princess.
"Hello Twilight." She said motionlessly, as she stood there looking out the castle window.
"Oh, thank Celestia! I sure am glad to see you. Where's Spike, and are you here to help me save your sister?" Twilight asked, but Luna just stood there, not moving an inch. "Thank you Twilight" Luna began "for finding Shining Eyes journal, and his final letter, and my old letter. You have aided our search nicely."
"Our search Luna?" Twilight asked, as she began to step away from Luna. Luna stood there for a moment, before turning her head to see Twilight. "Yes. Our search." Luna said, with razor sharp teeth, and blank white eyes. Twilight screamed, before she ran out of the room, and began to sprint through the winding corridors of the castle. She ran until she reached the library, where she shut the doors, locked them, and barricaded them with a bookshelf. She ran over to a small closet space where she stored all of her ink jars, quills, and scrolls, and locked herself inside it, before she pulled out a scroll and began writing.
Dear reader,
My name is Twilight Sparkle. If you are reading this, than you have found out about the lie that has been pulled over everyponies eyes. The darkness was never destroyed. It is out there, you just don't see it, because it is everything we know. I don't have much time, so please listen. The darkness now has its eyes set on you, you must be careful. You must survive. I entered this investigation blindly, and this will be the price for my sins. Good luck.
Author's Note
This has been a project in the waiting. Thank you for reading this if you read it. It is my first published story on FIMfiction. Thank you for checking this out, and please enjoy.
-PaperWriter
