Chapters I frowned as I put down my quill. "The passage ends there." I used my magic to gingerly lift the page, returning it to the carefully preserved pages. I frowned for a moment, my eyes lifting to meet the other pony in the room as she fidgeted. She was sitting awkwardly against the chair, lifting her eyes to meet mine as I turned to face her.
She let out an eager breath, waiting for me. "Well Twilight?"
"Lyra..." I shake my head. "You know, this just looks like every other ancient text!" I huffed. "Don't get me wrong, this is another primary source of a major historical event!" I mutter, lifting the book she had brought in and quickly scanning over the pages, flipping to the end. "But all this does is recap what we already know! King Sombra infiltrates the shield, hiding the crystal heart and then turning the magic that enables the protection of the city against the city." I put the book on the table, putting to the relevant passages. "Why did you bring this to my attention specifically?"
Lyra stands to her hooves, walking over to the book. "I brought this to you because this particular historian actually numbered her pages."
I nod in realization. "Ah, so if we can piece the other pages together, we know we have a complete historical account." I twirl around, looking around for my notes on missing pages. "Perhaps we even have them!" I said in excitement, my magic quickly scanning through my notes. "What pages are missing?" I ask, quickly scanning through the notes and noting them. Historians who numbered their pages were rare, most preferring to use the scrolls that were common at the time. Those who did use books often chose to catalog specific stories.
Lyra cleared her throat. "Other than the usual wear and tear, the missing pages truly start at page 15." I lifted my notes as she spoke, nodding in response.
"Thank you. That narrows it down. Where does the missing pages stop?" I ask, putting the rest of the notes back as I turn to face Lyra.
"Page 367." Lyra's response freezes me in place as I process the words.
"Pardon me?"
She wordlessly flips the book to the end of the pages, pointing to the final page with writing on it. "Normally I'd be concerned about this being part of a bigger historical record, but this is a book with 500 pages in it. The writing stops on page 367."
I take a close step, lifting a book off the shelf and putting it next to the book in question, frowning as I notice the books being of considerable difference in sizes. "Lyra, that's not a 500-page book. That's not even a 367-page book."
Lyra nodded. "You and I both know that a book as old as this isn't unusual to have a few missing pages." I nod as she speaks. "And while a few hundred pages missing is unusual, it wouldn't normally raise a mane for either you and me."
I sit down, inspecting the book and then scanning it with my magic. "It's magic enchanted to defend from elements, which is usual for records from that time period." Lyra nods in response. "As fascinating as this book is, why did you bring this to me?"
Lyra shakes her mane, opening her saddlebag and placing a burnt parchment onto the table, her hoof pointing to the page number. "Page 36 was in the corner of the room and was incinerated and thrown to the wind. Due to the elemental protection casted on it, it survived and wasn't lost to the wind." I nod, about to speak before closing my mouth to think as Lyra continued to speak. "From that, we can conclude that this book or the quill writing uses elemental protection and has to be deliberately burnt." She says, opening her saddlebag and gingerly dumping a small pile of broken and incinerated pieces of paper onto the room, all of it contained in protective spells and plastic. I nodded, quickly inspecting them with my eyes and lifting my magic to inspect them as I speak.
"A bit unusual, but not quite"
Lyra interrupted me. "I'll save you the work and give you the reason. I have reason to believe that all 367 pages were devoted to the fall of the Crystal Empire." I frowned for a moment, about to speak again.
"That passage I had you translate is the last page before the incinerated pages started. That was from page 57."
"...excuse me, Lyra?"
"Page 57."
"It's impossible for there to be 200 pages between the restoration of the shield and the fall of the empire! All historians agree that by the shield's restoration and the banishment of the empire was within a 12-hour timeframe, and most estimates, including my own, would pin that at four hours. Unless maybe this book included every single point of view of the fall of the empire..." I trail off, thinking for a moment, before gripping the book and flipping to the first non-burnt page, quickly reading through it and flipping through it in silence.
"Twilight?"
"Lyra, these last few pages are all the historians account of..."
"The fall and banishment of the Crystal Empire, yes."
"So..."
"Miss Sparkle, there are two conclusions. Either there are 250 pages devoted to the most mundane and boring four hours I can think of."
"Or something else happened in those four hours."
"Correct."
"Who would even be privy to that information?"
"I was hoping you could tell me yourself."
"I asked about both princesses about this already, and they told me the same thin"
"With all due respect, you asked about a very traumatic event. If I asked about the return of the Nightmare Moon, how would you sum it up?"
`"...you're helping me look."
"I wouldn't have it any other way."
Author's Note
And with that, begins the start of a story I've had bouncing around my head for literal years. I finally had to take the time to say, "Hey no, sit down and start writing and don't stop writing until you're done."
I don't know how long this story will take me to tell. But you write a story like you run a marathon, one step at a time.
cov ry a e ing
...the wound mended... everything okay?"
The nurse nodded. "Thank you. Our healers have been out of energy healing the soldiers and sending them back to the front lines, we've burned through our reserves and any gems of magics we had. It'll take a few..."
I nodded, resting my magic as I gently rubbed the little filly's mane. "I'm sorry we can't do more."
The nurse interrupted me. "No no! You've done plenty. Not only did you save our lives out there, you've helped make sure you've saved those after the battle ended. You could have stopped at the party and be hailed as heros and no would have begrudged you, but you stayed to help."
My sister nodded. "If by us staying, we can save one life, it will have been worth it."
I nodded in agreement. "Absolutely
"Sister?"
"Yes?"
"Thank you..."
[Illegible]
Page 61
..."Celebration"
...."Friday? Are you sure?"
"Absolutely. We can't....hospital. They deserve to be here as much as the rest of us."
"How is the shield?"
"It's getting stronger."
[Incinerated]
"and S[Incinerated] sign..."
"Estimate...[Incinerated] at the very least."
"Good. The further away he is from us, the safer this place will be."
"You know we will need to deliver justice?"
"Justice is for later. Our ponies are safe f[Rest of the page is torn and missing]
st things fir , reb l i g
st things fir , reb l i g
Page 72
...travelled...from hospital to...
[rest of page is blackened from incinerations on previous documents.]
Page 74
...for the plans." The pink princess gave us a smile as she sipped at her tea. "How are..."
"We're good. Our magic reserves are a little low from the previous fights, but the heart's energy is quickly replenishing that." The princess nodded, glancing over at me as she smiled. "And our enemy?"
I let out a tired smile, using my detection spell for a moment and smiling at the single pulse it emitted. "Once again, it appears he is the only one out there."
She lets out a sigh, a wave of relief flooding over herself for a moment before taking another sip at her tea. "I want to celebrate our victory sooner than later, but I don't think it is right for me to host a party with the marks of our battle still scarring the city." She murmurs to herself, standing up and looking out the window. "I know you have other duties that lie elsewhere, but I'd like to ask for a favor?"
I glanced over at my sister, giving her a nod as we both nod in agreement. "What is it princess?" My sister asked, watching the pink pony move from the window.
"Would you two help with the cleaning process?"
I smiled. "Just cleaning?"
She hesitated for a moment. "And rebuilding...and healing..." She trails off for a moment. "It's my wish that when the celebration happens that not a single citizen is missing or reminded of [missing fragments, wet marks stain the edge of the torn fragments]"
"Absolut-"
smiles in agreement. "Thank you so much."
I clear my throat. "If we will be staying here for an extended amount of time, we will need a place to stay and an embassy to continue diplomatic relationships."
She nods. "We have a place that was being used as the research wing..." she trails off. "most of the researchers will be occupied in the rebuilding process, so I trust that would be"
I nod. "It will be. May I ask for a guide through the wing? I'd love to learn more about your research."
"Absolutely. Tell the mare there that I sent you."
"Thank you. We will take our leave for the night."
I turn to leave, my sister striking up a conversation with the mare as the door slammed shu
I raised my eye as I heard a knock, putting the quill down and moving to answer the door. Spike had been long gone for the day, fetching supplies and spending time with his friends. The quiet was perfect for me to focus, sorting through these burnt fragments that Lyra had left was a pain. Sentences and fragments everywhere and piecing them together to tell a story was difficult. My only saving grace was that historians of this time period used cursive, and it allowed me to piece together minute differences in order to fit some of the pieces together.
Lyra stands at the door as I open it, quickly rushing in and staring at me. "Twilight, I had an idea!"
I shake my head, moving to lift my coffee from the table as I take a sip, staring at the mare as I wait for her to continue. She sits in silence before realizing I was waiting for her and continuing to speak.
"A lot of these pages are missing, but the ones that we have of those missing have a lot of the same patterns, do they not?"
I frown for a moment. "Yes, they're all written in the same handwriting, which shows that..."
"Not that!" She sits down, trying to articulate her thoughts clearly. "They're all burnt or torn or various other blemishes, but they're all torn."
"Yes?" I answer, unsure for a moment where she was heading for it. "If they were turned to ashes, we would be unable to retrieve more."
"But what if they weren't?" Lyra sits for a moment, pulling the aged book from my table and ripping a page out of the back of it to my horror. I gasp, about to mutter something before she crumbles up the pages and throws it into my coffee.
"LYRA! What are you doing, this is a priceless"
"Shhh, I'm proving a point." She said, pulling the page out of my coffee and hoofing it to me. "If you were to restore this, how much damage would have been done to it?"
"Lyra, you can't just do that to a work of that much value. Even the paper is priceless, a chance for a researcher to understand more about the fields of magic that were used..." I trail off, my horn glowing in a restoration spell before it fizzles, my eyes staring in disbelief.
The paper was torn in a straight line from top to bottom. While it dripped with coffee, I could tell from my restoration spell that the ability to write on the paper had been unchanged. I scanned the paper again, glancing at the book for a moment before quietly tearing another page from the book and examining the edge. It resisted being torn, but when it did tear, it tore on a line to avoid any writing that had been done on the bulk of the paper. "This is amazing..."
Lyra nodded. "The book is clearly enchanted to prevent natural destruction of the paper."
I nodded. "I agree, but we can both agree that the destruction that occurred was not natural. It was pony-made. This, while a great tool if we could replicate it, doesn't quite help with our problems of missing most of over 200 pages."
"It doesn't. But..." She lifted the coffee-soaked page, lighting the fireplace and tossing it into the fireplace. "What if those pages aren't gone, but they're just missing?"
I rolled my eyes, lifting the pages out and extinguishing the fire. "A natural fire won't test that." I frowned for a moment. "It'll need a magical attack..." I trailed off. "I'm sorry", I said, realizing what I had to do as Lyra nodded, taking a step back. I tossed the paper into the air and then hit it with my strongest incineration spell, closing my eyes as I expect to see the worst.
Lyra laughs in excitement, her laugh forcing me to open my eyes again. As my magic faded, the paper comes down, blackened and charred, splitting into fragments as it landed upon the ground. I pressed my hoof to it, pushing on it to test its strength and I gasped as I saw the results.
A spell of that magnitude should have turned the paper to an unreadable ash. Instead, what I had was a piece of paper that was now split into a multitude of fragments, near identical to the ones I had been piecing together. "Lyra..."
She nodded. "That was my theory. The paper doesn't burn, either through natural or pony-made means. Which means, as long as the spell that is cast on this paper still has energy..." She trails off, gesturing for me to finish.
"The words written on it would be safe." I let out a breath I didn't realize I had been holding. "Did you check the room that you found this in?"
She nodded. "The room, the building, the surrounding ruins." She lifted her bag, dropping a few paltry fragments onto the floor. "That's why I had to come to you. They're not in the immediate area as far as I can tell."
I scanned the walls of the library for a moment, frowning. "They wouldn't be...fragments of that size are old...and light..." I lifted the newspaper, checking the weather for a moment before blowing onto the fragments on the floor, watching as my breath picked the pieces off the floor for a little bit. "I don't know where to look..." I admitted after a moment of thought. "But I know where to start asking."
….Lost. 3. But not forgotten
Scorch marks. Buildings. Roof. Process is goin-
I let out a huff before pouring myself another cup of coffee. I looked at the piles of fragments lying around, frowning for a moment. “Lyra, you double checked the ruins like I asked?”
Lyra nodded. “I managed to find a few more, but…” she said as i groaned in frustration. My sorting spell had already been through the new fragments, and while they added a few words and helped me understand the direction the story was taking, it was so little data without the other fragments we were missing. I lit my horn, carefully pushing the organized fragments into a box, enchanting them to protect them from elemental wear and tear before putting the box away.
“Are you done?” Lyra asked as I gave her a smile.
“For now. We’re missing too much, and what we have doesn’t tell us much…” I mutter. “I called you over today to see if you had anything new that could help put the pieces together.”
“But i didn’t. Does that mean that this is a dead end?” Lyra frowned, looking at the writings i had managed to piece together.
“Not quite.” I smiled. “I’ve been doing other research for the past few days and I’ve had a hunch on where to find them.”
“Where?”
I smirked, stepping out of the way of the window and opening the window as Rainbow crashes into the room. “Sorry I’m late! I slept in! You needed my help twilight?”
Lyra stared at the Pegasus for a moment before glancing back at me. “She is your idea!? She’s not even a scientist, how is she going to find lost fragments from over a thousand years ago?”
I smiled, handing Rainbow a saddlebag. “She’s not. I have to make a trip to Cloudsdale and find out where to find historical records. But Rainbow Dash is the best flier in Ponyville, and she knows the weather patterns better than anyone else.”
I cleared my throat. “Rainbow, Lyra will lead you to the archeology site. I want you to NOT damage a thing” I said, giving her a fixed glare. “But figure out where the wind patterns are and then lead our friend to places where fragments like these would settle.” I lifted a bag of torn fragments from the book, putting them into her saddlebag. It pained me to use such old pages, but they didn’t have anything written on the pages, and Rainbow would be far more efficient if she could test while on the field.
Lyra nodded for a bit in understanding. “You want me to follow her and look around where she ends up?” I nodded in response. “You two can work out the details, I will need to make a trip. Any questions?”
Rainbow raises her hoof. “What’s in it for me? I could be napping on a cloud right now.”
I laugh a bit. “You get first rights to any library book that you want to read. Including any future ones that may come out. I hear some of them are particularly daring in what they cover.” I say, giving her a wink. I knew Rainbow could be secretive about her reading habits in front of most ponies, but I knew she’d catch my drift.
Rainbow rolls her eyes, pretending to be bored for Lyra. “Psssh, what a boring reward. I’m only doing this because you asked me too.” She said, grabbing Lyra and zooming out of the room with a speed that betrayed her excitement. I laughed a bit as Lyra’s scream slowly faded into the background before pulling my map out of my saddlebag. I looked up as I checked the time, and then pulled my tickets out of the saddlebag. I closed my eyes as I focused on the teleportation spell, focusing on my destination as a flash of light enveloped me.
3 1/2. Being impatient pays off
I shook my head as I was put onto the ground by Rainbow Dash. I fixed my saddlebags, checking the interiors as I ignored the mare, checking the belongings. I securely latched it shut as I lifted my eyes, taking stock of the surroundings. She had put me down by the edge of the Everfree Forest. I nodded in satisfaction.
"Are you even listening to me Lyra?" Rainbow waves her hoof in front of my face, catching my attention as I nodded.
"Sorry, I was lost in thought Miss Dash." I said, causing Rainbow to shake her head in disgust.
"Bleh, No. Don't call me that." She said, lifting into the air and floating around lazily on her back as she talks to me. "Rainbow is more than fine for you, it's what all my friends call me."
"Very well Dash..." I trail off, thinking for a moment. "Do you know the way to the ruins in question?"
As I receive a negatory headshake, I lifted my saddlebags further onto my body before starting to lead the way. I hear a huff behind me before blue hoofs pick me off the ground. "Lyra, I can fly."
I smile sheepishly. "Force of habit." I point towards the forest. "That way please."
I let out a sigh as my hooves touched the ground. I opened the saddlebags, handing Rainbow some fragments for her to test. "Here we are. Do you suppose you'd know where to find these?" Rainbow nods. She takes them into her hoof, taking off from the ground as soon as she took them. She flew straight up at a blistering speed as she twirled, fragments falling from various heights before she lands on the ground.
I watched the fragments float on the air before fixing Rainbow with a glare. "I could have done that myself."
"No, you couldn't." She smiles at me, watching the air for a moment before darting in a direction in the air and catching a fragment. As her movement scatters the other fragments, she looks around before dropping the fragment. "Here." She yelled, scooting down and picking me up again as she carried me some distance, dropping me onto the ground. "Try there."
I huff a bit. "Warn me next time!" I called after her as she bolted again into the air. I shake my head in frustration as I trot over to the location she pointed. I pulled my shovel out of my saddlebag, pawing at the ground for a moment before I dug out a big chunk of earth. This was going to be a waste of time, but I'd do it to humor Twilight. I sigh, shaking my head as I scanned the dirt and tossed it to the side. "Nothing there." I said quietly, using my detection spell to pulse the ground, scanning for abnormalities in the ground. "Still nothing!" I call into the air, about to dig again to humor Rainbow.
Rainbow lands on the ground before me, skidding to a stop. "Nothing?" She asks. I nod in response. She lifts into the air. "Ready?"
"Ready for wh..?" My words get cut off as she picked me off the ground, carrying me to another location. "Try here." She said, bolting into the air again.
I stare at the trail she left behind, shaking my head in disbelief. Was this really her strategy, have her dig at random spots and hope I get lucky? What a waste of time. I dig my shovel into the ground, digging out a small hole. I pulse the ground for abnormalities. "What a waste of time. I'm going to have such a bad headache after this." I mutter. "And not..." I frown, my magic pulsing in response to the first. I run the test again, paying attention to the results before carefully digging at the pointed direction a few feet away.
A few holes and a few pulses later and there before me laid the dirtied fragment. I lift it up carefully, scanning it for a moment as I nod. This was the same material and writing style as the fragments we were missing. I placed it down, using the scan to adjust my old spell for the weathering in the area. I pulse the ground, my jaw dropping as I quickly found five more locations, stopping my spell prematurely before it gave me too many results.
"Rainbow! Careful when you land, please!" I call into the air, taking a seat as I start to work. I hear Rainbow give an affirmative as she darts around in the air.
I landed on the clouds, my magic flickering as the teleport faded. I glance up, looking around for a moment to get my bearings before I make my way to the Cloudsdale cloud factory. I ignore some of the surprised glances coming my way, knocking on the door to the factory as I wait.
The door opens slowly, revealing a yellow pegasus mare in her work outfit. She gasps for a moment as she notices me, stammering for a moment. "P-princess?! We weren't expecting you, we're."
"I'm not here for the inspection." I give her my best smile, trying to disarm the mare of her nerves as I think. "Do you know where I can access the historical records for the weather?"
"Oh! Princess, they're across the city, the library houses the records."
"Thank you." I mutter politely, my magic flaring as I cast the teleportation spell. I had never seen the weather records in the Cloudsdale Library, so to hear it was there a surprise.
I walk quietly into the library, making my way towards the head librarian. I had been in here several times for various purposes, but she would know where the records. I clear my throat as I paused. "Excuse me? I'm looking for the weather records." I whisper, the mare barely pausing in her reading as her ear flicked.
"The weather records are classified on a need-to-know basis. What is your need?" She mutters, turning the page in her book as she continues to read intently.
"Scientific research for an archeological study." I replied, expecting her to get up and let me in.
"Where is your study?"
"The Everfree forest. I'd like to have the records-"
"Everfree forest records are a higher security clearance than the surrounding town of Ponyville." She turns the page. "Your need-to-know is sufficient for Ponyville, but I'd need a security clearance for the Everfree Forest."
I let out a sigh. "Is PRINCESS high enough clearance?" I hiss out, clearing my throat to contain my frustration as the mare finally glanced up at me.
"For the Everfree..." she trailed off, laughing for a moment. "Well, the Princess can view the Everfree records directly. However, I'd have to bring the records out here, unless you have a need-to-know to access the entire records systems?"
I facehoof in frustration, shaking my head to clear my thoughts. "I may have a need to derive the historical trends to fill in the missing gaps in record keeping. I have to go back from the present a thousand years, and unless the records for the Everfree are complete?" I left the question hanging.
The mare smiles, putting the book down and standing up, walking over to the safe, opening it. She pulls out the key, closing the safe as she leads the way to the records. "No, I don't think those records would be complete. Perhaps if Starswirl had continued his duties of containing the forest, but he disappeared ages ago." She inserts the key, opening the door for me. "Would the Princess like any further assistance?"
"No, thank you." My magic expands over the records, quickly casting a scanning spell to find the Everfree records. "I'll let you know if I do."
I hear a chuckle behind me as the door closes shut.
Author's Note
This chapter was surprisingly the hardest to write so far. Who knew?
Part 1 to get some update out there.
I stared off into the distance, watching the shadowy mist retreat to the west. I let my magic slowly trail to the ground, slowly dropping my guard as I watched the shield around the city slowly reform.
"Little sister?"
I turned my head to the source of the voice, giving her a smile. "Yes sister?"
She dropped her weapons, her magic fizzling as she turned around to face me as the shield reached above our heads. "Is that all? Or will HE be back?"
I smiled, my horn glowing alight as I extended a detection spell, the spell flickering once as it finishes. "He's the last one sister. We have done it, our little ponies are safe."
She smiles in relief, turning to face the edge of the shield. "When I dismissed him years ago from the court of this town, I never could have foreseen this. We nearly lost so much in that attack."
I reached out my hoof, running it through her mane. "Don't count what has not come to past dearest sister. It is a nightmare to think about, but it was a nightmare that took years to form, and it is gone forever." I pause my movements as I glance at the shield. "The shield will hold against him for tonight?"
My sister reached out her magic, pushing against the shield with her might before letting it disperse. "We will assign guards to the shields, but he will not break this shield without at least a warning. Our servants are safe here."
I laughed heartily, using my wings to fly up into the air as i whirled around, my wings lighter than they had been in days, my eyes being drawn to the center of the city as I smiled. "Looks like the locals are setting up a party." I folded my wings and landed next to my sister. "Shall we check on the wounded and then join in?"
"Let's." My sister nodded in affirmation. "He canno-"
