Thief of Memories

Chapter 5

Cherilee's History Lesson

"But why d'we have to have a crummy history lesson?!" Applebloom complained for what seemed the billionth time.

"Now now Candy." Miss Cherilee said. "History is important! We could all learn a thing or two from the people of the past!"

"Okay then, but why is he here?" Applebloom said pointing to Riley, who was sitting on Cherilee's desk.

He waved at the assorted children. "Ms Sparx thinks I should get out more, so she made me volunteer at the school."

Cherilee beamed at the children. "From what he says Mr Alexander is somewhat of a historian so he should be a big help in this topic." Cherilee scrawled something on the blackboard, it read 'The History of Harmony and the Rise of the Celestial Twins.'

A collective groan from the crowd and mutters of how boring that topic sounded. Riley took notice of this and chuckled.

"Allow me to open lil' lady."

Cherilee blushed for a second at Riley's comment. He rolled backwards on the desk and launched into the air, landing on the floor with a thump.

"The year is thirteen hundred BC. The land of Neofortis is divided into three separate factions, the Union of Pegasi, Earth's Children and the Unicorn Confederacy. For many years they have lived in an uneasy truce with only a hairline preventing war. Then on the day of February tenth of that year the Confederacy suffered a final strike to light the flames of war."

Riley whipped his gun from his belt and fired a shot into the ceiling causing several members of the room to yelp in shock.

"The princess Melody Bossinger is shot dead by a weapon that only the Pegasi are in possession of, the first kind of gun to be produced in all of Equestria. The Unicorn of course blamed the Pegasi, but the Pegasi claimed that the prototype weapon had been stolen by the Children, with so many accusations flying about war was inevitable. As such on the day of February the thirteenth, war was declared between the three nations."

Riley started to pace at the front of the enraptured class.

"For three hundred years the nations fought a bloody conflict. While one could say that the Unicorn's magic would have given them an edge you would be very much wrong. The Unicorn might have had magic but the Pegasi had wings and technology while the Earth Dwellers had huge numbers and a strength unlike any that the other nations possessed."

A hand raised. "Yes dear?"

"What kind of strength?" A young girl asked.

"The Earth Dwellers had inner strength. Whereas a Unicorn or Pegasi might be discharged from duty because of injury an Earth Dweller would willingly fight on, or should they become wounded on the battlefield they wouldn't simply call for a medic and wait to be patched up as most Earth Dwellers had the will to fight through the pain. So for every ten Pegasi that fell in battle only two Earth Dwellers would fall." Riley drew his blade and began to slash the air. "On the day of April ninth nine-hundred and ninety-six BC the three nations came together on the Fields of Solace for what would be the final battle of the war. For hours the sides clashed together until only three soldiers remained. Nostradamis of the Pegasi, Valentine of the Unicorn and Simon of the Earth Dwellers."

Riley sheathed both his weapons and sat back on the desk. "While the facts around their encounter are a little hazy we know that only one warrior left that confrontation, or should I say one nation? Yeah, one nation." He grinned at the confused faces. "While we don't know exactly what was said we know that the three warriors all looked into one another's hearts and saw nothing but anguish. So all three set down their arms and sat there, in the middle of a bloody wasteland they cast aside their weapons and sat down. For the first time in over three hundred years members of the three nations sat down to have a friendly chat. When the search parties were sent out to find them they were amazed at what they saw. To see the nations in such close proximity without a skirmish was unthinkable in such a time! Yet here it was."

Riley began to scribble on a piece of paper. "It was then that through those three warriors, nothing more than grunts mind you, that the nations leaders agreed that they would sit down and talk. That talk is known as the founding of the modern realm. It was the day that the three nations united under a single flag, a day where they promised never to allow such a barbaric conflict to happen again. It was the day that..." He turned the paper around to show a picture of the flag of their nation. "Our fair nation was born. Now whenever somebody asks 'why is our nation called Harmony?' you answer with 'because harmony is better than strife."

Riley looked at the children in the class. Many of them looked almost excited after his recounting of their heritage. "For anybody confused." He said. "Our continent is Equestia, our nation is Harmony." He then gave a large grin. "Over to you madam."

Cherilee had to shake herself out of the historical trance that Riley had placed her in. His way of 'teaching' was rather enticing. "Umm yes! Right, I uh... The Celestial Twins correct? So ummm..." She rushed to the front and coughed softly as she tried to regain her composure. "So at the dawning of the Celestial Age, or the year 1 BC, there came a terrible threat to not only Harmony but all of Equestria. During an archaeological dig in the Badlands an artefact we now call The Heart of Chaos was unearthed. At the time we had no idea as to what its purpose was, so it was taken to Canterlot for study. A week into the observations there came a red-light alarm from the labs its was being held inside. Whatever the heart was it was not safe. So the military stormed the laboratory to find the staff either dead or driven mad by hallucinations of their greatest fears."

Cherilee tried to do something interesting with her hands, only to fall flat in front of the children. She had never lots confidence while teaching before. A hand lowered onto her shoulder, it was comforting.

"Then," Began Riley. "As one team attempted to figure out what was going on a booming laughter was heard." Riley imitated a stereotypical evil laugh. "The military men began to break down as their worst nightmares flooded into the room to torment them like fear incarnate!"

Riley then spun Cherilee around and leant in close to her face. "It was then that the beast who called itself Discord took soldier Elizabeth Cradle and told her 'I am fear, I am chaos, I am Discord.' Then with a final cackle...." Riley gave Cherilee a quick peck on the mouth. "He kissed her, and she fell into a fitful sleep.."

Cherilee (helped by the giggling children) played along with this game and threw a faint, with flush red cheeks and some very mixed feelings. Riley continued to spin his tale. The next parts were fairly dull as he detailed the slow spread of chaos after Elizabeth awoke and were only kept interesting by his acting.

Then once more it hit the interesting parts.

"Now that Elizabeth's claims were seen as true, that a 'King if Chaos' had arisen, the governing body decided they must act before the creature ran out of control." Riley pulled Cherilee to her feet. "So they called on two of the best they had, twin sisters called Carol and Lily Celest." He leaned back to back with Cherilee as if to make out that they were these twins.

"One controlled the ancient power of shadow-magic, the one called Lily." The teacher said taking on the persona of the first sibling.

"The other held sway over the equally old art of light-magic, the one called Carol." Riley gave an impressive spin and unsheathed his blade, holding it skyward. "Together they were The Celestial Twins. Unicorns gifted with superb control over the forces of magic unlike that of anyone else ever born. If they couldn't stop the King of Chaos then the world as we know it would be doomed."

Riley held that pause with a flourish of sheathing his blade. The class waited the next stage of the tale.

"It was all in vain." He whispered. "Even with their control over two of the most powerful elements of magic known to our kind, they were no match for the raw power of Discord and his chaos-magic. The battle raged for over three weeks, with either party only taking pause to momentarily catch their breath." Riley sombrely began to rub something beneath his shirt. "It was said that the sister's were on the verge of defeat with Carol barely protecting her dying sister from Discord's assault. All of Harmony, no, all of Equestria and the world beyond would fall to the elder magic of Discord."

Riley took a moment to gather his thoughts, it wasn't showing but the retelling of this story taxed him deeply.

"Then came the Amulet of Harmony." He said.

A hand rose. "Mr Alexander, don't you mean the Elements of Harmony?" A young boy with a camera on his desk asked.

"No my boy, the Elements come later." Riley went to the board and, using pink chalk, sketched a crude diagram of what looked like a heart with two roses wrapped around it.

"While this might just look like a regular ornate amulet; I assure you that it is so much more. The Amulet of Harmony is an artefact  that is still around today but just less heard of as it is shadowed by the Elements. What this essentially is is the catalyst that allowed the Elements, famed for defeating Discord and Nightmare, to be created."

Riley took to the front of the class again.

"Now the Amulet in question was a device of unknown power. All the scholars in Canterlot told Carol that it had strength only nobody knew how to access it. She took a chance by taking it to her confrontation with the King of Chaos, a chance that paid off."

The story-teller historian swooped across the room to reach the climax of this tale.

"The amulet gave way to a brand new power that hadn't ever been seen before, even as she lay dying over the motionless body of her sister with Discord slowly shattering her last defence. Carol Celest became stronger than ever. The Amulet of Harmony gave her the power of heart-magic."

A collective murmur of unknowing.

"Heart-magic is the most powerful magic known to our kind. It is thought to be a combination of every single form of natural magic in existence." Cherilee said, trying to make some input.

"Right you are my lovely assistant." Riley whispered to only the teacher. "Your teacher is correct!" He boomed to the rest of the class. "Heart was so powerful that even on her death bed Carol was able to deflect the strikes of the King of Chaos and seal him away in stone once more."

The bell rang shrilly to signal the end of the lesson. It took some time but eventually the class managed to filter their way out.

Cherilee bounced over to her amazing helper.

"That was fantastic Mr Alexander!" She said with a beam. "I have never seen them so interested in history, or anything, before!"

"Well what can I say Ms Che-"

"Samantha."

"What?" Riley asked with a bit of confusion as to why he had been cut off.

"My name is Samantha Mr Alex-"

"Riley. My name is Riley... Samantha." Riley gave her a wicked grin, that made Cherilee's stomach bubble. "Now then I must be getting back to the library to tutor Patrick in swordsmanship." He made a movement towards the door, only to stop halfway there. Riley then turned and gave Cherilee yet another sly grin.

"But how about you meet me in town tomorrow, two o'clock at the square?"

Cherilee's eyes grew wide, was this man... Flirting with her?

"I will take your wide-eyed silence as a yes, see you then Samantha."

It was with that last line that Riley left the schoolhouse, leaving behind a butterfly stomached, slightly flushed Ms Samantha Cherilee.