16 Years

by E. Mumbles

Rating: teen
Tags: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Sad, Original Character
Length: 1678

After 16 years alone, I can finally re-enter the world.

A young historian has sealed himself inside the Canterlot Archives in attempt to reveal information that he believes to have been hidden away for over a thousand years.

Part one of what I believe will be a three part series, if I decide to finish it. The other chapters of this story will focus more on the narrator as a character, and his relationships with other characters in the Poniverse. Not sure if I will change from the journal format. Doing so may make the rest of the story easier to understand in the long run.

This is the first short story/fanfiction that I have ever written on my own time, so please go easy on me :D

Drop a comment if you like what you see so far, or if you have any thoughts/questions you'd like to share.

Cheers!

(Image at beginning of Chapter 1 is "Canterlot Archives" by pvt-llama on DeviantArt)

Published 2012-08-27 07:14:01 UTC
Last updated 2012-08-27 07:14:01 UTC

Chapter 1

After spending so many years alone, I am finally able to leave this unbearable prison. There’s no reason to stay here any longer. If I do, Celestia or Luna will no doubt realize my protective barriers are down, and who knows what they’ll want to do with me at this point. Sixteen years is a long time... maybe they've forgotten about me? Heh. Sixteen years for an immortal being is probably comparable to a few hours seen through a normal pony’s eyes. I find it very unlikely that the rulers of all the known world have kept all of civilization relatively quiet and peaceful by forgetting security disasters like me.

16 years

Day 1:
I have successfully locked myself in the Canterlot Archives. I’ve been searching for any viable entrances or exits from this place for hours, but none have appeared. After all, the magical barricades I've set up around this place were designed to be impenetrable. The aforementioned barricades have already been discovered by the royal keeper of the sun, Princess Celestia. Needless to say, she was mortified. Princesses Celestia and Luna, and another few voices I don't recognize, have begun discussing how to get in here, how to get me out, how to get rid of the barriers I created to seal myself in here. They tried the door first, of course. A few moments later, Celestia flew along the sides of the building to check the windows, with Luna following close behind. I sincerely doubt they will have any success.

I am going to be here for a very long time. A "Stop Time" spell would have been preferable, as I could deactivate it and hopefully sneak out once I had what I came for. Unfortunately, I could find no such spell in my previous scouting of this library. So, I am forced to remain here for 16 years. In order to keep track of my findings, my thoughts, and the passage of time, I will continue this journal. There is enough parchment here for me to record anything I need to for centuries… although the spell should only last for the amount of time that has passed between the caster's birth and the time of casting. That is, so long as it works as intended. How could it not? Princess Celestia created it to aid her in defeating Discord so many millennia ago. That is ample testing to abate any concerns I could have about its reliability.

Day 2:
I just now realized that I have not eaten for two days. And yet, I feel as healthy as I ever have. Maybe even better. I have no sense of hunger, thirst, or fatigue. Again, magic succeeds in giving me all the time I could ever need here, when I would have not the slightest chance convincing Princess Celestia to allow me access to these records for even a few minutes. That's not to say I harbor any ill will against her. At least, not for that. The information this library holds has the potential to reveal... well, pretty much anything in history I suppose. There’s no telling what secrets I could discover. And I intend discover many.

Day 3
I still search for the documents I came here for. I'm hardly stunned. I would expect it to be difficult to find a relevant text when you're in the most extensive library in the world, simply due to the sheer volume of knowledge such a place would contain.
I am wasting time. It could take every second I have allotted myself to find what I'm looking for, and here I am recording stray thoughts. In order to improve my efficiency, I will postpone further entries until I have something of importance to archive.

Day 7:
By my estimates, I have read approximately one in one hundred thousand of the texts in this library. Although thankfully, those dealing with the history of Equestria only encompass a small section of those. After a full week of nothing but reading books and scrolls, and occasionally writing these journal entries, I still have so much more to get through.

Celestia, Luna, and the others still haven't wrapped their royal minds around the fact that they will never break the seals around this room. Luna is clearly getting more upset by the hour. However, the elder sister is very talented when it comes to negotiation and pacification. I don't think anyone else could manage to keep the short-tempered watcher of the night under control for so long.

Time is wasting.

Day 14:
Still no results. I have stopped minding the conversations of the ones outside this room as much, except in a few rare cases, such as Luna’s recent outburst. Most of them seem to either have lost or are losing their hope of getting in here. All the better for my concentration. All the better for me to find all of the secrets Celestia has been keeping from the world.

Luna is practically boiling. She has regressed into the use of the Royal Canterlot Voice on occasion, but Celestia is as serene as ever. They are still clueless as to how they might gain entry. Three days ago, the mare of the moon attempted to break in using sheer force. That went about as well as one could expect. I heard her hooves rapping the floor, and a deep violet light source could be seen through the crack of the doorframe. I called out to her to stop, that she would hurt herself. Her voice grew nearer and louder, but was cut off by a bone-rattling thud as she ricocheted off of the barrier blocking the door. I left my readings briefly to ask the others if she was alright, but I received no response. Celestia told the others that they were finished for the day, and that she would attend to her sister's injuries personally, as she desired a private conversation with her. I called out after the retreating hoofsteps, but no response came. And as I approached the door, the light from the lantern I carried did not illuminate the hall outside. From this, I can gather that while sound and light may enter into the library, neither may exit. That would make sense, considering the spell was invented to allow Celestia to study the nature of magic without any of her studies being discernible by the outside world.

I recognized another voice yesterday. Celestia must be getting more desperate, as she seems to have asked for the assistance of her personal pupil. I have met that one before. For her age, she appears to be exceptionally disciplined and knowledgeable in magical theory... "For her age"... my hypocrisy stuns even myself sometimes.

I have decided to maintain weekly recordings of my findings and the situation outside, largely for a brief respite from my work, but also as a means of keeping track of time.

Day 21:
I feel as though I am growing ever closer to the truth. I have stumbled upon several mentions of the Nightmare Moon incident from more than a thousand years ago, but nothing different from what the world has been conditioned to believe. I feel so close, despite not having any definite leads.

The conferences outside have become increasingly infrequent. Perhaps they have finally retired their struggle.

Day 28:
I have discovered several records the Nightmare Moon incident. All of which lay out the exact same events.
Luna was jealous of how much the world appreciated Celestia, so she rebelled, and was struck down using the Elements of Harmony. I refuse to believe that the largest uprising in all of history could have been caused by that mare's jealousy, especially when I have seen firsthand the rapport that the princesses have. All that we have had to go by for the past thousand years has been Celestia's word. What kind of scholar would I be to simply accept the word of a diplomat on such a momentous event?

No more voices. Not in 5 days. To be truthful, I kind of miss hearing others talk. Even if I couldn't interact with them, it was still nice to be able to trick myself into believing I had company. On the other hand, I now have no distractions.

Day 42:
No new findings to record, and no audible conversations.

I can hear voices echoing off the walls of the castle. Whenever I detect the dull popping of hooves knocking against stone, I perk up at the possibility of the princesses, or anyone else, returning to discuss possible breaching methods. Or anything else for that matter. No such luck.

I see no reason to log any recent events. Frankly, there haven't been any worth noting. Instead, I will keep track of time in simple numeral form on a length of parchment until I have any notable news.

Day 100:
On this, the 100th day of my infiltration of this haven of knowledge, I have finished over-viewing the history records. Amazing how brief my time here has seemed so far.
My search is over. I have learned much about the history of Equestria, many things that I doubt even my eldest professors could have been aware of.

And yet, I have no evidence of foul play on the part of Princess Celestia. I am crushed. I have locked away the greatest source of information imaginable so that I could know the truth behind the Nightmare Moon incident, only to discover that Princess Celestia was being as honest as everyone else seemed to believe. There were so many horrible things she could have done to her sister before the uprising, so many things that could have justified the rebellion, so many possible events that Celestia had a thousand years to cover up… but all of my efforts have been meaningless.

What if an emergency were to arise? No-one can access the archives to research the threat.

In my idiocy and conspiracy, I have locked away myself and all this information for 16 years.