Last Days

Last Days

Prison of Paper

Luna cast long shadows as she walked through the torch lit corridor, her hoofsteps the only thing disturbing the serene silence. Her moon was already soaring high on the dark night sky, shooting rays of soft light through the big windows on the corridor. The princess slowly walked up to a big wooden arch door. It loomed over her with greatness, adorned with gold hinges and bolts. Despite the door’s regal appearance, there were no guards or anypony around. The whole scenery looked desolate, like if it was abandoned by everypony in haste. Luna shot a glance at a big sign adorning the wall. It was telling in golden letters that one just reached the Canterlot Castle Library.

The two ornate handles lit with magic as the princess made the massive door creak open. Light slowly spilled inside, illuminating a vast circular area. Luna lighted more torches all around the round room, making countless bookshelves shine in the orange light. The shelves were organized into rings, each one smaller and contained in the bigger one, everything under an enormous dome supported by one massive pillar in the very center. There was a curved corridor in between every ring, providing space for ponies to walk and read. There also was a straight passage that lead to the very center of the rings, which Luna began to walk down.

During the last thousand years, the amount of knowledge possessed by the ponies more than tripled. The knowledge had to be stored somewhere safe; a place that would prevail through the ages and provide future generations with valuable information. The constant expanding of the library was inevitable; it was proud to hold more than two hundred thousand books. Every ring represented a different branch of science, with the biggest one being magic.

After a long canter between the numerous shelves, she reached the very center. It was a thick and tall stone pillar that reached from the floor to the very ceiling, supporting the incredible weight of the dome. The smooth surface of the column reflected the light of many torches placed on it, illuminating Luna and the smallest ring of books in which it was contained.

Very little knew what secret the ancient library was hiding, for the column fulfilled one more purpose than supporting the dome. Luna walked up to one of the torches and pulled it slightly with magic. A barely audible click resounded as the torch tited like a lever, followed by the sound of rusty mechanisms awakening after a long slumber.

A small gap formed on the surface as a part of the column started to slide down. The gap widened slowly forming a small passageway. When the wall slid down to the very floor, the machine came to a dead stop, and silence fell on the library again.

The princess grabbed a torch with magic and shone some light into the passage that formed not a minute ago. A steep set of stairs came to view, vanishing into darkness where light could no longer reach. Luna felt cold crawl down her face and body as she started to descend those stairs, step after step keeping her source of light far in front of her. The machine came to life again as the door slowly started to close. With stone hitting stone Luna was swallowed whole by the enormous library.

When she crossed the long stairwell, she reached a small underground room. The walls were completely bare with no source of light of their own. Luna moved her torch around studying the walls. While they all were the same in the term of appearance, Luna was looking for something else. She moved her horn closer to one of the walls and stopped for a while. Yes, this one was definitely different. The princess felt a miniscule amount of energy radiating off it; a faint magical aura. She concentrated her magic and called to the seal that was placed upon the wall, touching it with her horn. She closed her eyes as a blue light came to life, feeling her; recognizing her. A slight movement could be felt as the whole structure of the wall was rearranging. Slowly at first, something was materializing on the surface of the wall in front of Luna. The light died as quickly as it came to life, the magic bond disappearing.

Luna opened her eyes. She smirked as she saw a wooden door on the wall. She knew that the wall was bare before, but she wasn’t surprised to see the door. She herself designed the Library underground more than a thousand years ago, helping Celesta hide the most shameful secrets of Equestria. Luna knew how to work the mechanisms better than anypony else.

A cascade of dust was launched into the the secret room, swirling around as Luna entered. The flame of her torch flickered menacingly, but Luna managed to keep it alive with a simple spell. The room she just entered was of medium size, with four thin columns supporting it. Two walls were covered up with old bookshelves, with hundreds of decaying tomes laying on them, undisturbed for hundreds of years. The wall across the door had an alchemy workshop set up. A wide wooden table with dozens of dusty bottles and pots with various ingredients. Luna felt a surge of excitement as her gaze swept the room for the first time in a thousand years. She observed that nothing had changed, she was nearly sure that no one visited the room in the last millennia.

Magic certainly was a incomparable blessing for ponykind, with nothing to equal it in the power of creation. From the beginning of history it was a strong ally to its wielders, helping to lay the foundations of what ponies of today called their home. Everything from a humble house in Ponyville to the proud towers of Canterlot castle was created thanks to the wonderful gift of magic. While most magic was used to do good, it also had a darker side, a more ominous one.

A side that was exploited by few and long ago. Used to wreak havoc and spread pain for personal selfish needs, it was forbidden by Celestia more than a thousand years ago. Seldom anypony remembered of its existence, the last ponies to use it long deceased and forgotten. As the solar ruler wasn’t especially fond of the existence of dark magic, she ordered to build the secret room in the library to conceal all of the books describing the dark craft. Celestia wanted to keep it a secret from the citizens at all costs, for their own good. The only ponies to know of the room were herself and Luna.

The princess slowly walked to the alchemy workshop, the torch lighting her way. She scanned it quickly and spotted what she was looking for. She smiled mischievously as the book came into her view. She blew a thick layer of dust off it, revealing the brown cover and title written in ornate silver letters. Advanced Alchemy the title read, the letters shining in the soft light of the torch. The ancient book was encompassed by Luna’s magic and gently picked up. She slowly opened it to the first page. The paper was yellow and chipped at the edges; the whole book seemed brittle, but it was still readable. Luna let the book float next to her in the magical aura as she looked to the side.

A pedestal placed in between the bookcases came into her view. It was carved from gray stone, blending with the wall behind it. There was a thick tome residing on it. Luna knew that the book was older than any other on the room, even older than the room itself. She walked up to it.

Gold letters seemed to emit a glimmer of their own, contrasting with the pitch black cover. The book seemed to be in pristine condition without a mote of dust on it, Luna noticed. She supposed that there were protective enchantments cast on the tome, as it emitted a strong magical aura that Luna could feel.

Exitosus Vox - the words melodiously crossed Luna’s mind as she read the title. She felt a pang of anxiety as she examined the book. She still remembered what destruction the spells in this book could unleash. While Luna knew what malicious content this book was containing, it’s origin always was a mystery to her and Celestia. Some tended to say that the book, written in an ancient language, was created by the first unicorns ever to exist - before the royal princesses were conceived. Possibly written in the chaotic times when the three pony tribes clashed together for dominance, the tome proved to be the oldest and most dangerous item currently possessed by ponykind.

Luna shivered as her telekinesis got a grip of the book. She felt her magic coming to contact with all of the spells contained in the book. They responded, waking up from their long slumber. Seemingly alive, they started to swirl around each other, crying out to be set free. The book was teeming with magic craving to escape the eternal prison of paper.

Luna lifted the book from the pedestal, but abruptly stopped and closed her eyes as she heard something. Feeling something lingering at the back of her mind, she heard disembodied voices called out to her. Faint at the beginning, they were invading her conscious with increasing force, demanding freedom. She tried to banish them with all her might, but they were drilling deep into her mind. Luna’s eyes shot open as she gasped, feeling a sharp head splitting sensation. Red mist escaped from between the pages of the book, extending its twisted tendrils to Luna. Before she could react, one of the tendrils shot right for her horn.

The princess screamed in pain as she lost her grip on the book; it fell and hit the hard floor with a thud. She collapsed as her hooves zipped to her head in a second. Her whole horn felt numb as she touched it; Luna suddenly feeling lightheaded. The world spun around as she panted heavily for a while, trying to figure out what happened. Luna carefully planted all of her hooves on the floor and unsurely stood back up, looking at the book. The mysterious mist was nowhere to be found.

After a while her mind was somewhat clear again, so she tried to pick the book back up. She felt her horn flare with magic as she concentrated on the book. Luna felt momentary relief as It flew up flawlessly. She waited in tension, but heard perfect silence; all of the voices had vanished. The princess looked around frantically, still shaken up. She lifted the alchemy book and began to leave the room; she didn’t want to be here any longer. She shot out of the room and started to climb the stairs. She didn’t see it, but she knew that the door disappeared without a trace, leaving only a smooth wall in its sake.

Luna heard the other secret door start it open in front of her, the ancient magic sensing her approaching. The hole was wide enough to jump through when she reached it. The princess landed, skidding on the slippery floor and immediately pulled the torch with her magic. The door started to close even before it completely opened. She concentrated and teleported away in a split second, instantly reappearing in her private chamber. The moon peeked through her window shining calming light into the room, as she landed on the marble floor. She let go of the books and looked around, trying to calm herself breathing deeply. She sat on the floor and closed her eyes, trying to settle her mind.

After a moment the princess looked back at the tomes and pondered on how to hide them from Celestia, or anypony. She quickly pulled out a wooden chest from under her bed. She opened it and emptied the contents on the floor, not surprised when a cascade of old useless books littered it. Luna threw the two books inside and buried them under the old ones. She closed the chest and encompassed it in a magical aura.

The princess slowly crafted a spell that she learned a long time ago; a magic reflecting spell. The wood started glowing gently as Luna poured magical power into it, infusing the walls of the chest with the spell, making it reflect all magic that was contained inside like a mirror. That way no pony would be able to sense the magical aura that one of the books undoubtedly emitted. The glow slowly died as Luna withdrew her magic. Momentarily satisfied, she pushed the chest back under the bed, making sure that no one would see it.

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Happiness... everywhere she looked she saw happiness. No matter how desperately she tried to bury herself in the fortress of her own mind, it always managed to find her. The smile of her sister, the joy of the ponies of canterlot as she looked upon them from her terrace, the merry servants of the castle, it was everywhere. It was driving her insane, everyday she was forced to cope with mocking laughs of everypony around her, forced to look into those cheerful purple eyes. The same that sent her to the moon.

Luna found herself staring out of the window. An ashen moon stared back at her, emotionless for an eternity. I seemed that despite how much she hated it, the moon was her only true companion. Slowly becoming as cold as it was, soaring high on the dark sky, distant and alone.

-«<♦>»-

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