Chapter One: The Forgotten Restricted Section of the Royal Canterlot Library (or the Surprise Royal Discovery)
Chrysalis sat all alone in a cold dark deep cave, she hated that she had lost to Twilight Sparkle and her friends twice now, she wanted revenge so desperately wanted revenge on them, but had found no success so far, she had no warriors left, no fighters, no spies, not even her own children of her old hive to help her out anymore, she had no one to turn to, nowhere to run, and nothing to help her out either, all she had was just herself now, and maybe it was better that way, but then again, it might be better if she had someone else to help her out right now. And the cave she was in wasn’t even that great, the wall she was on seemed to be breaking and falling apart, it was cold, dark, and damp, but not the kind that she was used to since she was in the Everfree forest, a pebble fell from the roof and angrily she got up and kicked the wall again, she had been kicking it for several weeks now blasting magic at the cave almost expecting the cave to collapse on her, but instead the cave just moaned and groaned like usual, but this time the wall collapsed revealing that it was built out of stones and had a simple illusion spell on it to make it seem like it was the end of the cave when it was not, curiously she went further down into the cave, why would anyone build a wall here in a cave in the middle of the forest? Were they trying to hide something in here, and if so, why? And most importantly who were they?
She went further into the cave noticing that she was going upwards until she saw a stone staircase leading up to the castle, of course, this must have been an old escape route just in case the castle was ever invaded, that made a lot of sense, she climbed up the staircase and decided to take a look around the castle, she looked around the room she was in, she couldn’t tell where she was or what part of the castle this was, but there were doors, she opened one and found a hallway, she went down it until she ended up in the main room and then retraced her steps back, there were just two doors left, one to the left and one to the right, she went left and discovered another pathway leading from the kitchens and dining room to here, one last door, she took the other door and discovered a door to the left and one door leading forwards, the door leading forwards was another route from other parts of the castle, the last door, she found to her great surprise that the door was locked, why was it locked though? She used her magic to try unlocking the door, no luck, she tried to break down the door, no luck, she examined the keyhole closely and any magic that could be used to lock the door.
The door had very strong and old magic on it that prevented any brutal force of any kind from opening the door, however if the key or keys to it were destroyed then the magic would have to be gone by now, the key might be lost, but this spell didn’t seem to be weak at all, the key had to be close by somewhere…
The key was in the castle, it had to be, but where? In a book? In a chest? A lost secret room somewhere? Grinning Chrysalis set off on a new goal and quest, find the key, open the room, she scoured the hallways, she scoured every single room of the castle, she puled torches, books, and searched through every single suit of armor there was, it took her days, weeks, a whole month passed eventually and yet no progress had been made, she was on the verge of giving up when she went down to the main entrance hall room of the castle and sighed looking up at the sky where the ceiling used to be, hold on, what if there was a clue in a painting somewhere? What did the ceiling look like in the past? Smiling once more she scoured the books of the library until she found the perfect book, an accurate history of the castle written by Celestia and Luna, and yes, there it was! A painting of the ceiling, there were the two sisters, one with the sun and one with the moon, a picture split in half, even, divided, and equal too. But right in the corners there was an image of a key, could this be the key she wanted? But if so, where was the key? She scoured the journal frantically looking for any mention of a secret room or key, but the two sisters loved hiding things and had many secrets rooms through their castles in previous years, how could she ever tell which room and key was which? But then by luck she found something…
Unknown to my sister I’ve hidden many secrets in this castle and I suspect that in Canterlot I shall do the same, I cannot stay here any longer, the castle is ruined and there are too many terrible memories here of my great and terrible past, I need to make sure that ponies forget and only remember the good things and stuff, I wish that I did not have to do this, but it is for the greater good, I wish not to taint the reputation of my sister, better that she never be known and forgotten rather than have the ponies remember her great and terrible deeds. Oh sister, how can you ever forgive me for what I have done? You mocked me, hated me, hated us, you wanted more power just like Luna, and yet we did nothing for you, and now Luna is gone just like you, I’ve hidden all the books and scrolls and memories of her in my room in a secret safe that can be activated by turning the sun clock on the wall in a certain pattern/way, first turn the number 12 to the 3 position, or rather three o’clock, then left all the way to 7, right to 4, then left to 6, that will open the safe and reveal the secret truth of the past my dear sister.
This must have been written by Celestia after the banishment of Luna, but why though? Was she planning to reveal the secret past to Luna someday but either never had the courage to do so, forgot to do so or maybe both instead? She went up to Celestia’s room and saw a metallic clock that looked more like a compass now that she thought about it, she followed the directions and to her great surprise a wall opened up where the bookcase was, this castle was just full of surprises and secrets, smiling she entered the room and looked around and was shocked to find what she did. It couldn’t be, a third royal sister? One forgotten by all ponies by an extremely powerful memory spell?
One that was evil and had great power? One trapped and banished? It seemed so perfect, too perfect maybe, but she knew that this had to be real.
She found a key and a note to it saying never to open the room that Chrysalis had found and to never use the spell written down to release the pony trapped inside the painting on the wall within it. This was just too easy for her, smiling she took the key, note and books and scrolls of this third royal sister and went down and inserted the key into the large wooden door, twisted the key very carefully and pushed the door open, grinning like a filly she stepped into the room and saw the painting with the two royal sisters, and third sister with their parents, how cute and sweet and charming and ironic, trapping their sister in a “happy” moment forever and ever. She uttered the spell very carefully making sure not to mispronounce anything, she patiently waited for anything to happen, a boom, a noise/sound, a ripple in the painting, anything at all, nothing happened though. Well, at least nothing happened for a while until a pony came walking out gracefully from the painting wearing a dark brown cloak that hid her face and body, “Finally, I am free from my imprisonment, for too long I have been trapped in there suffering a fate that is almost worse than death itself, I must thank you for releasing me, please tell me your name and what your affiliation is with princess Celestia and Luna please or I will make you suffer until you tell me the truth, I have power far beyond that which you can even comprehend.”
“There’s no need to hurt me, I’m Chrysalis, I’m an enemy to princess Luna and Celestia, I am your friend, or perhaps an ally instead?”
“How interesting, an enemy of my enemy is indeed my friend even if I don’t or can’t trust you just yet, but in time perhaps you can and will prove yourself, but even if you are an ally to Celestia and Luna I suppose it wouldn’t hurt if you fed her information, I’m good at making new plans up on the spot, what are you though? You don't seem like any pony that I’ve ever encountered before.”
“That’s because I’m a changeling, I can transform into anypony or anything that I want to, I am, or rather was the queen of the changelings, I had a hive, spies, and my children, warriors and fighters, all useful in some way to me, but one of them rebelled against me recently and overthrew me and now they all follow him, that traitor named Thorax, how long have you been trapped in there?”
“Too long, over a thousand years to be exact, I have a lot to catch up on it seems, do you mind giving me a brief summary of all that has occurred please?”
“Of course!” Chrysalis said excitedly getting into detail about Nightmare Moon, Discord, her invasion of Canterlot, Tirek, Sombra, Starlight Glimmer, her last failed invasion attempt, the pony of shadows, and Tempest Shadow and the storm king too, eventually she finished up her brief history lesson though. “Well, what do you think? Have any plans or ideas for revenge yet?”
“Patience Chrysalis, we will get all that was lost and our revenge in due time, until them we must be wise and smart, we cannot move or attack too soon or they will notice us before we want them to,” the cloaked pony said calmly.
“Yes, of course, you’re right, what do we do in the meantime though?”
“We wait, we plan, and then, when the time is right, we strike them where it hurts most, right in the heart, worry not Chrysalis, with your help and skills we will get what we want, I have no desire to rule your kingdom or to seek war with you and so I expect that neither of us shall attempt to backstab each other even though you want Celestia’s throne, and I correct in assuming this?”
“Well yes, but can’t I have more to rule please?” Chrysalis asked.
“Don’t push your luck, if we succeed we shall discuss terms of land possession and what we each should rule and whatnot, but only if we succeed, understood?”
“Yes, perfectly understood,” Chrysalis said resentfully.
“Good, I think we should start to rebuild and repair this castle, I see that my two younger sisters have done a very poor job maintaining it even in the revelation of Luna and Nightmare Moon, great beauty like this should have been preserved by somepony even if Celestia herself did not want to live here, she could have at least given money to other ponies to keep great care and condition of this castle, but since they don’t seem to care about this castle anymore I shall make it and claim it as my own, I’ll even add a few improvements too it and I will make it scream my name and glory and great praises to all that see it,”
“And I will finally reclaim my own throne and home,” Chrysalis said.
“Indeed, and once we have what we want and have crushed the ponies that took everything away from us and have our revenge we will be at peace,”
Chapter Two: The Awakening
Celestia awoke in her bedroom with a loud gasp, she just had a terrible dream and vision of the future and what could/would happen, she was extremely nervous and worried now, she would need all the help that she could get, but she couldn’t directly tell Twilight or the others this, could she? It would shock them to their very core and make them question their faith, trust and belief in all royalty and nobles, but perhaps that was an acceptable price to pay.
“Sister, are you okay? Are you alright? I sensed a disturbance with you,” Luna said bursting through the doors of Celestia’s room.
“Yes, I am fine, I am alright, but I fear for the worst in our future, she’s back Luna, I don’t know how or why, but she’s back, our sister, we need to stop her, we have to for the good of Equestria, we need a plan, and fast too.”
“I know Celestia, I know, but we can’t rush into this, she’s been trapped for years just waiting and plotting her revenge, there’s no telling what she’ll do,”
“Indeed, but we do have to do something, we have to warn Twilight about a great danger and threat coming her way, we need not go into the specifics within the letter itself, we can be general and vague to her, it won’t be the full truth, but at least it will be something, and something is always better than nothing, right?”
“I would think so for the most part, but sister, shouldn’t we do more than just that? We have to warn everypony about this, maybe not all of it at once, but perhaps gradually instead, we’ll just have to wait and see, we can't mess this up, we must get ready fast and we have to stop her once and for all,” Luna said.
“True, we will do what we can and what we must within due time, but for now the letters will suffice, come, we will have a lot to do, say, and explain,”
Luna nodded as they quickly went off to the library writing their letters and sending them off to their own respective ways hoping that the replies that they got back would also come as quickly as the letters that they had just sent off.
Meanwhile in Ponyville Twilight Sparkle was sleeping quite peacefully until Spike burped up the letter waking him up, “Ugh,” he said rubbing his eyes slowly, “Uh, Twilight, not to disturb you or anything, but you got a letter from princess Celestia and Luna,” he said going up to Twilight’s bed and shaking her awake.
Twilight quickly got up from her sleep yawning loudly as she too rubbed her eyes, “Ugh, what time is it anyways?” she asked.
“Uh, just after 3 in the morning and before 4 Twilight,” Spike said.
“Oh, alright, hand me the letter please and I’ll read it,” she said.
Spike did so and as Twilight read the letter she quickly became nervous and worried, Celestia and Luna were being very vague and general about the threat and danger that she could face, all that she understood was that there was some kind of old ancient villain that everypony forgot that now wanted revenge.
“Don’t tell me, it’s an old ancient great evil villain from a thousand plus years ago that’s coming back and wants revenge on us, right?” Spike asked.
“How did you know that Spike?” Twilight asked him.
“Isn’t is ALWAYS that old trope and cliché? Seriously this is just like another Tuesday for us, monsters, old ancient villains, it’s always the same.”
“Yeah, he’s right you know!” Pinkie Pie said popping out of a flower pot.
“Pinkie! How did you get here? Why aren’t you asleep in bed right now?” Twilight asked as Spike yawned and got back into his bed closing his eyes again.
“I have a super-secret tunnel system connecting every single house in Ponyville including your castle! Well, I guess the tunnel system isn’t so super-secret anymore! Don’t ask about it, it’s a very long story, anyhow I also have these cool radio things that pick up anything interesting sounding that sends out an alert to me if anything interesting happens, anyhow talk to you in the morning, forget that I was ever here please! Anyhow, goodnight and goodbye!” she said.
Pinkie Pie disappeared as suddenly as she had randomly appeared leaving Twilight quite confused as to what was going on here, shaking her head she decided that it was worthless and pointless to question any of Pinkie’s antics or logic. She decided to get what sleep that she could and talk to her friends in the morning, a few hours later she woke up to the warm gentle soft light of the sun yawning once more as she got up rubbing her eyes and stretching her body too.
“Alright Spike, time to get up again, let’s go meet all of our friends and tell them what’s going on here,” Twilight said using her magic to shake Spike awake.
Twilight quickly went around town getting all of her friends together, or at least making them agree to meet later on if and when they were free to talk to her.
Later on, in the afternoon, right after lunch, they all got together and sat down in the map room, “Alright everypony, we’re all here and I have some bad news,”
“Is all the sugar gone from donuts? Is all the cheese gone from the cheese fountain? Is a cake monster invading Ponyville and we have to get rid of all the pies in order to make it happy so it’ll stop rampaging through town?”
“No Pinkie, there is a great danger coming for all us, the only problem is that I don’t know what or rather who it is or could be, just that it’s old and ancient and wants revenge and that nopony remembers what or rather who it is or was,”
“Oh! Sounds interesting! I hope it’s some kind of dessert monster!”
“I highly doubt it Pinkie, but whatever it is I’ll need all of you to help me out and get ready to face it, if we don’t get ready who knows what will happen,”
“Alright darling, but how are we supposed to get ready for this strange old ancient mysterious evil being if we don’t even know what or who it is or was?”
“Good question Rarity, I’m glad that you asked, just be on the lookout for anything strange, weird, odd, and/or suspicious, new ponies and strangers especially included within that group too, if you do see anything report it to me at once, well, unless it’s trying to destroy something or hurt somepony else,”
“Good plan Twilight, we’ll be on the lookout for what you want us to do,”
“Yeah! And if evil does show up at all, we’ll just kick its butt like we always do, together I don’t think there’s a force in the world that can stop us!”
“Thanks for your votes of confidence Applejack and Rainbow Dash, I’m not so sure though, we have no idea what we’re facing so I have no idea how extreme we might have to go in order to defeat it, but I’m sure that no matter what the elements of harmony and our friendship can beat it,” Twilight said.
“Yeah, we totally got this, and once we beat the great ancient old evil we’ll celebrate with a big huge party with delicious sweets!” Pinkie said.
“Well I only wish that it could be that easy Pinkie Pie, but it won’t be, not at all, I’ll need all of you training to be your very best just in case anything happens,”
“Don’t worry Twilight, we’ll be on our guard,” Applejack said.
“Yeah, me an AJ can totally kick the great evil in its face!”
“Again, I wish that it could be that simple, but once again I have to emphasize that this won’t be easy at all, but I thank you girls for all the support.”
“Of course, Twilight, we’ll always be there for you no matter what happens,”
“Thanks Rainbow Dash, now then girls, if you don’t mind I have other business to take care of and I’ll need some time alone,” Twilight said.
“Take all the time that you need and want Twilight, we understand,” AJ said.
“Alright then, see you later then, until next time, good luck girls,”
After Twilight said this the girls all went out on their own separate ways, well, all except for Starlight Glimmer who now had a permanent home at the castle.
“Nice speech Twilight, but do you really need the time to yourself?”
“Yes and no, I want to go look for any clues about our enemy by myself although you’re more than welcome to tag along and come with me if you wish to,”
“Any ideas where the evil might be hiding?” Starlight asked.
“I have a few, but nothing solid yet, you coming with me?”
“Yes, of course I am, do you even really have to ask me that?” Starlight asked.
“No, but I just wanted to make sure,” Twilight said.
And with that said they both smiled and grab their bags tossing random various items in it as they went off around the town looking for any hints and clues of what they wanted to see and find, but they could find nothing at all, no signs of anything out of the ordinary, no missing or dead animals, pets, or ponies, no burned books in libraries, no missing or stolen books either, not even a passing rumor of anything bad happening in the Everfree or anywhere else either, it seemed that their search just lead them to dead end after dead end.
“Well, at least nopony can say that you didn’t try anything at all,” Starlight said panting a little bit after their extensive and exhaustive day of failed research.
“Right, yeah, I know, I just wish that we could have found something, anything at all, but I guess it might be too early to start looking, who knows,”
“Right, who knows, don’t worry though, something will pop up, sooner or later,”
“Yeah, sooner or later, thanks Starlight,” Twilight said turning off all the lights, locking the doors, brushing her teeth, and then closing her eyes as she fell asleep as her dreams and darkness quickly overtook her mind with wild imagination.
